11th Edition of NICE Classification to come into force in 2017

The World Intellectual Property Organization [WIPO] recently passed a notification in their Gazette dated October 24, 2016 notifying the public that the NICE Classification of goods and services was to be amended and that the eleventh [11^th] edition was to come into force in the new year [from January 1, 2017]

The NICE Classification which has been adopted by several jurisdictions is the common classification of goods and services that are trademark application is to be filed with. You can find out more about classification of goods and services and the NICE Classification here.

The Notification goes on to state that there are a number of changes in the 11^th edition compared to the previous one. [The 10^th Edition of the NICE Classification came into force way back in 2012 and has had minor updates each year since then but clearly nothing substantial enough to change the entire edition]

The 11^th Edition will be available on the WIPO website and come into force on January 1, 2017 which will be applicable to all International Registration filed through the Madrid Protocol. New Applications must be filed in line with the amended classification and when the International Bureau notifies each of the designated offices, of an application, there will be a notice of ‘NCL(11-2017)’ inserted next to the list of goods.

India at present follows the 10^th Edition of the NICE Classification along with a separate list of Indian goods and services notified by the Trademark Office. Come January 2017 though, all International Registrations designating India, would have to use the new edition.

While the draft of the classification is not yet available with the changes on the WIPO website we will have to wait, and see what the changes are.

This article has been authored by Navarre Roy, an IP Law practitioner

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