Trademark registrations protect trademarks for certain products.
These are to be itemised in the "list of goods and
services" or the "specification". As the
specification defines the scope of protection for the trademark, it
is – alongside the sign for which protection is sought
– the most important part of the application.
Before drafting the list of goods and services the following
should be considered:
1. The Nice Classification
The Nice Classification is a system that allows all
possible products to be classified in 45 classes. Each class is
defined by a class heading, which is a summary for many – but
not necessarily all – goods or services attributable to this
class, and an alphabetical list containing pre-approved terms. It
also provides guidance on how to classify products that are not
pre-approved in its General Remarks and
Explanatory Notes.