The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the federal agency in charge of federal trademark registration, categorizes marks into 45 different “classes” of products or services. The goal of these classes is to allow different types of businesses to register their trademarks in categories that are most closely related to their core business. Class 21 primarily consists of small, hand-operated utensils and apparatus for household and kitchen use, as well as toilet utensils, glassware, and porcelain articles.
Trademarks in Class 21
Class 21 trademarks include MRS. PICKY (wine glasses) BRUSH CADDY (brushes for golf equipment), and TIP N SPRAY (empty spray bottles).
You would choose Class 21 if you were registering any of these types of goods:
- Household or kitchen utensils and containers; combs and sponges; brushes (except paint brushes)
- brush-making materials; articles for cleaning purposes
- steelwool
- unworked or semi-worked glass (except glass used in building)
- glassware, porcelain, and earthenware not included in other classes
- apparatus for mincing, grinding, pressing, and so on
- electric combs
- electric toothbrushes, or
- Dish stands and decanter stands.
You would not use Class 21 if you were registering:
- cleaning preparations, soaps, etc. (Class 3 – Cleaning Substances)
- small apparatus for mincing, grinding, pressing, etc., driven by electricity (Class 7 – Machines)
- razors and shaving apparatus, clippers (hand instruments), metal implements and utensils for manicure and pedicure (Class 8 – Hand Tools)
- cooking utensils, electric (Class 11 – Appliances), or
- Toilet mirrors (Class 20 – Furniture).
Related or Coordinated Classes
If you are unsure whether to register in Class 21, you should consider the following “coordinated” classes: Class 3 – Cleaning Substances, Class 4 – Cleaning Substances, Class 5 – Cleaning Substances, Class 6 – Cleaning Substances, Class 7 – Cleaning Substances, Class 8 – Cleaning Substance Hand Tools (Class 8), Furniture (Class 20), Advertising and Business Services (Class 35), Science and Technology Services (Class 42), and Medical and Veterinary Services (Class 44).
A coordinated class is related to another class, typically because the PTO has determined that applicants filing in Class 21 frequently also file in the coordinated classes.
The trademark class system is also used to calculate your registration fees. You must pay a separate registration fee for each class of goods or services that you register. So, if you want to apply for a trademark for posters (Class 16) and shirts (Class 25), you’ll have to pay two fees.
When registering a trademark, you must specify the correct class. If you enter the wrong class, you must restart the application process.
Your registrations are limited to classes that include the goods or services that you already offer (as evidenced by the specimens you submit) or that you intend to offer (if you are registering on an intent-to-use basis). In order to narrow a search of the PTO’s trademark database, you may also need information about the class number.
Supplying Specimens for Class 21
If you are registering a mark that is currently in use in commerce, you must provide a specimen of the mark as it is seen by consumers. The specimen must show the mark as it is used on or in connection with commercial goods. A trademark specimen should be a label, tag, or container for the goods, or a display relating to the goods. Acceptable is a photocopy or other reproduction of a specimen of the mark as it is actually used on or in connection with the goods.
A label is an acceptable specimen in most cases where the trademark is applied to the goods or containers for the goods in Class 21 by means of labels. Shipping or mailing labels may be accepted if they are attached to the goods or containers for the goods and show proper trademark usage. They are not acceptable if the mark as shown is used as a trade name rather than a trademark. One example is using the term solely as a return address.
A proper method of trademark affixation is to stamp a trademark on the goods, on the container, or tags or labels attached to the goods or containers. The trademark can be imprinted in the body of the goods, as with metal stamping, applied with a rubber stamp, or inked on with a stencil or template. Photographs or facsimiles of the actual stamping or stenciling are acceptable as specimens when a trademark is used in this manner.
The phrase “applied to the containers for the goods” refers to any type of commercial packaging that is standard for the specific goods as they move in trade. As a result, displaying the trademark on the normal commercial package for the specific Class 21 goods is an acceptable specimen. Gasoline pumps, for example, are considered standard containers or “packaging” for gasoline.
If this is the normal mode of use of a mark for the particular goods, a specimen showing the use of the trademark on a vehicle in which the goods are marketed to the relevant purchasers may constitute use of the mark on a container for the goods.