The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the federal agency in charge of trademark registration, categorizes trademarks into 45 different “classes” of goods and services. The goal of these classes is to allow various types of businesses to register their trademarks in categories that are most closely connected to their main business.
Trademark Class 3
The following goods are classified under Class 3: Bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use, cleaning, polishing, scouring and abrasive preparations, soaps, perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions, and dentifrices.
Cleaning and toilet preparations are typically found in Class 3. Toiletries also include deodorants for humans and animals, room fragrance preparations, and sanitary preparations.
Examples of Trademarks in Class 3
Examples of Class 3 marks include LISTERINE (Breath fresheners), TWIST & SHINE (cosmetics), SHOWER GUARD (Cleaning preparations), and BIOLAGE (hair care preparations).
You would choose Class 3 if you were registering any of these types of goods:
- deodorants for human beings or animals,
- room fragrance preparations, or
- Sanitary preparations being toiletries.
You would not use Class 3 if you were registering:
- chemical chimney cleaners (Class 1 – Chemicals)
- degreasing preparations for use in manufacturing processes (Class 1 – Chemicals)
- deodorants other than for human beings or animals (Class 5 – Pharmaceuticals), or
- Sharpening stones and grindstones (Class 8 – Hand Tools).
Related or Coordinated Classes
If you’re not sure whether or not to enroll in Class 3, you might want to look into the “coordinated” classes listed below: Pharmaceuticals are classified as Class 5, Household Utensils as Class 21, Advertising and Business Services as Class 35, Science and Technology Services as Class 42, and Medical and Vet Services as Class 44.
A coordinated class is one that is linked to another, usually because the USPTO has discovered that applicants who file in Class 3 also file in these other classes.
The class system is also used to determine trademark registration fees. You must pay a separate registration fee for each class of goods or services that you register for. You must pay two fees if you register for a trademark for posters (Class 16) and shirts (Class 25).
When you register a trademark, you must select the correct class. You must restart the application process if you list the incorrect class.
Your registrations are limited to classes that cover the goods or services you already offer (as evidenced by the specimens you submit) or plan to offer in the future (if you are registering on an intent-to-use basis). In order to refine a search of the USPTO’s trademark database, you may also require information regarding the class number.
Supplying Specimens for Class 3
If the mark is utilized in commerce, you must provide a sample of the mark as it appears to customers. The mark must be seen on or in connection with the products in commerce on the specimen. A trademark specimen should be a label, tag, or container for the goods, or an associated display. It is acceptable to provide a photocopy or other reproduction of a specimen of the mark as it is used on or in connection with the products.
A label is an admissible specimen in most circumstances where the trademark is affixed to the goods or containers for the items in Class 3 by means of labels. If shipping or mailing labels are placed to the items or to the containers holding the goods, and if valid trademark usage is established, they may be accepted. If the mark is just used as a trade name and not as a trademark, they are not acceptable. The use of the phrase purely as a return address is an example of this.
A proper method of trademark affixation is to stamp a trademark on the goods, on the container, or on tags or labels connected to the goods or containers. The trademark can be imprinted in the items’ body, as with metal stamping; it can be applied with a rubber stamp, or it can be inked on with the help of a stencil or template. Photographs or facsimiles of the real stamping or stenciling are permitted as specimens when a trademark is utilized in this way.
The word “applied to the containers for the commodities” refers to any sort of commercial packaging that is customary for the specific goods as they move through trade. As a result, a display of the trademark on a typical commercial package for Class 3 items is an acceptable specimen. Gasoline pumps, for example, are ordinary containers or “packing” for gasoline.
If this is the regular method of use of a mark for the particular products, a specimen showing the use of the trademark on a vehicle in which the goods are marketed to the relevant purchasers may represent the use of the mark on a container for the goods.