Classification sounds like housekeeping. It isn’t: it determines what your trademark search finds, how your figurative mark is indexed, and whether a foreign filer can navigate the Indian register at all. In June 2019 India joined the three WIPO treaties that govern it.
Why classification treaties matter
One reason the world has transitioned to a knowledge-driven economy is intellectual property — and IP systems only function across borders if they speak the same classification language. The three WIPO agreements were introduced primarily to ease the search for trademarks and industrial designs.
The Nice Agreement
The Nice Agreement governs the classification of goods and services for registering trademarks and service marks.
Trademark offices of contracting states must indicate, in official documents and publications for each registration, the class numbers to which the registered goods or services belong. The Nice Classification divides these into classes 1 to 34 for goods and classes 35 to 45 for services.
The Vienna Agreement
The Vienna Agreement establishes a classification for marks that contain or consist of figurative elements.
In all official documents and publications relating to registration and renewal, offices must indicate the categories, divisions and sections of the classification to which the mark’s figurative elements belong. In practice this is what makes a device or logo search possible at all — without Vienna codes, you cannot systematically search for visual elements.
The Locarno Agreement
The Locarno Agreement establishes the classification of industrial designs.
Competent offices of contracting states must indicate, in documents recording deposit or registration and in publications, the classes and sub-classes to which the goods incorporating the designs belong.
The accession
On 7 June 2019, India’s instruments of accession to all three classification treaties were received by WIPO Director General Francis Gurry from Ambassador Rajiv K. Chander, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva.
The Director General’s response noted WIPO’s pleasure at the deposit, observing that India had been extremely active in the field of intellectual property and in international cooperation on IP in recent years, and that this deep engagement was extremely welcome.
With the accession, India became the 88th member of the Nice Agreement, the 34th member of the Vienna Agreement, and the 57th member of the Locarno Agreement.
What India gained
- Harmonisation of trademark and design classification with international practice;
- an opportunity to have Indian designs, figurative elements and goods included in the international classification systems;
- greater confidence for foreign investors about protecting their IP in India; and
- the ability to participate in decision-making on the review and revision of the classifications.
That third point is easy to underrate. A foreign filer evaluating India previously had to work out how local classification practice diverged from the international standard. Accession removed that friction.
The fourth is the longer-term gain: India moved from following classification decisions made elsewhere to having a seat at the table where they are made — including the ability to press for Indian goods and design categories that the international lists had not accounted for.
Where it led. The alignment was carried through in practice. The Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2021 formally adopted the current Locarno edition as published by WIPO, removing the discrepancies that came of working to an older, locally modified list.
The takeaways
- Three treaties, one purpose — Nice for goods and services, Vienna for figurative elements, Locarno for designs.
- India acceded on 7 June 2019 — as the 88th, 34th and 57th member respectively.
- Vienna codes make device searches possible — the practical gain for trademark clearance.
- India now helps revise the classifications rather than only following them.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements? WIPO treaties establishing international classifications — Nice for goods and services in trademark registration, Vienna for figurative elements of marks, and Locarno for industrial designs.
When did India accede to them? On 7 June 2019, when India deposited its instruments of accession with WIPO in Geneva.
What is the Vienna Classification used for? Indexing the figurative elements of marks, which is what makes systematic device and logo searching possible.
How many trademark classes are there under the Nice Classification? Forty-five — classes 1 to 34 for goods and classes 35 to 45 for services.