Nice Classification Guide for China: Classes, Sub-Classes and the 10-Item Rule¶
China uses the same 45-class Nice system as everyone else, with one structural difference that decides whether your registration is actually useful: CNIPA divides each class into sub-classes (类似群). Two products in the same class but different sub-classes are not automatically considered similar. That single mechanic changes how you should pick your ten items.
The 45 classes, in plain terms¶
| Range | Covers | Typical brand owners |
|---|---|---|
| 1–34 | Goods | Manufacturers, product brands |
| 35–45 | Services | Retail, SaaS, agencies, hospitality |
The classes foreign applicants most often need:
| Class | Covers | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Software, apps, electronics, downloadable content | SaaS, hardware, mobile apps |
| 35 | Advertising, retail and wholesale services, e-commerce | Anyone selling direct-to-consumer online |
| 42 | Software design, SaaS platform services, technical consulting | Tech companies (with 9) |
| 25 | Clothing, footwear, headwear | Fashion, apparel, merch |
| 3 | Cosmetics, skincare, cleaning products | Beauty, personal care |
| 30 | Coffee, tea, bakery, condiments | Food and beverage |
| 41 | Education, training, entertainment | Content, courses, media |
| 43 | Restaurant and accommodation services | F&B operators, hotels |
| 5 | Pharmaceuticals, supplements, medical preparations | Health products |
Why class 35 matters more than most people expect¶
If you sell your own products online in China — Tmall, JD, a WeChat mini-program, your own store — you are providing retail services, and class 35 is where that lives. Product brands frequently register class 9 or 25 and stop there, then discover they cannot enforce against a copycat storefront because they hold no service mark for retail.
For an e-commerce-led brand, a realistic minimum is: your product class + 35 + the class covering any digital or app touchpoint.
The sub-class system, and why ten items is a trap¶
Inside each class, CNIPA groups similar goods into sub-classes. The rule of thumb: protection extends across a sub-class, not across the whole class.
Take a clothing brand filing in class 25. Ten items all chosen from the "clothing" sub-class gives you solid coverage of garments — and nothing for footwear or headwear, which sit in separate sub-classes and can be registered by someone else without conflicting with you.
The practical implications:
- Spread your ten items across sub-classes, not within one. One item per sub-class buys far more defensive width than ten variants of the same product.
- Extra items cost USD 10 each through us beyond the ten included, which makes broad coverage cheap relative to the cost of a gap.
- Draft in Chinese with reference to the official sub-class list. A translation that reads naturally in English may map to the wrong sub-class.
- Check the specification is accepted. CNIPA prefers standard terms; free-form wording invites a correction notice and delays.
Choosing items: a worked example¶
A direct-to-consumer skincare brand with an app and a planned flagship store:
| Class | Items to prioritise | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Face cream, serum, cleanser, mask, toner, body lotion, sunscreen, makeup remover, soap, essential oils | Ten items across the cosmetic sub-classes |
| 35 | Retail services for cosmetics, online retail, advertising, business management, import-export agency | Covers the storefront and the marketplace listings |
| 9 | Downloadable app, downloadable electronic publications | Covers the app |
| 42 | Software as a service, platform hosting | If the app has a service layer |
That is four classes, roughly USD 796, and it closes the gaps a copycat would otherwise use.
Common mistakes¶
- Filing one class because the product seems single-purpose. Then discovering the packaging, the app and the storefront all sit elsewhere.
- Copying a specification from a US or EU filing. The wording often maps poorly onto China's sub-class structure.
- Filing only the English word. The Chinese transliteration or the logo can be registered by someone else and used against you.
- Choosing items by price instead of by sub-class. The cheapest spec is often the one with an unenforceable gap.
- Ignoring later expansion. New product lines mean new classes; add them before launch, not after a squatter does.
How to get it right in one pass¶
- Describe your business, current and planned, in plain language — not in trademark terms.
- Let a Chinese agent map that onto classes and sub-classes, and show you the proposed Chinese spec with sub-class notes.
- Confirm the ten items per class are spread deliberately.
- Check the search result for each class before filing; risk varies enormously by class.
- File the word mark and the Chinese version (and the logo if it has distinct visual identity) as separate marks.
Get a class recommendation with your free search — tell us what you sell and we will come back with classes, sub-class rationale and a fixed quote.
Related guides: How long registration takes · Cost and official fees · Recovering your brand from a squatter
General information, not legal advice. Class and sub-class coverage depends on the specific goods/services wording filed.