How to Choose the Right Trademark Class for a Clothing Brand?

How to Choose the Right Trademark Class for a Clothing Brand?

Information January 6, 2026 Publication date Intellectual property Category Authors

Olha Stadnichuk Olha Stadnichuk Dispute Resolution Practice Lawyer at Legal IT Group

The growth of your brand means new opportunities for your business. One such opportunity is registering your trademark. The first question that prospective trademark owners face is choosing the class for the goods and services they will provide.

So what is so complicated about it?

If you want to register a trademark for a clothing brand, it is worth selecting Class 25: clothing, footwear, headwear.

Yes, Class 25 has the broadest coverage for a clothing brand, but in order to sell your clothing you need to add Class 35. In fact, there are quite a few nuances when choosing classes for a trademark.

For example, under the aforementioned Class 25 for clothing, the following goods can be registered: parts of clothing, footwear, and headwear, pockets, ready-made linings, paper clothing, or masquerade costumes. Sportswear also falls under this category: ski gloves, sports jerseys, cycling clothing, football boots, gymnastics footwear, ski boots.

HOWEVER, it is worth remembering that Class 25 does not include certain types of clothing, footwear, and headwear for special use. For example, protective helmets, including for sports (Cl. 9), fire-protective clothing (Cl. 9), special clothing for operating rooms (Cl. 10), orthopedic footwear (Cl. 10), as well as clothing and footwear required for certain sports, such as baseball gloves, boxing gloves, and ice skates (Cl. 28), animal clothing (Cl. 18), carnival masks (Cl. 28), and so on.

It should be noted that when filing a trademark registration application you need to specify a concrete list of goods that you will produce under your brand.

Let us say you are planning to launch your own brand of winter jackets. It is winter, everyone is cold, and your wonderful jacket will keep them warm — but the question is: will you produce exclusively jackets? Perhaps you will immediately also produce gilets, coats, down jackets, thermal underwear, ski suits, or other ski clothing?

It is important to understand and answer the question: what specific clothing will I produce under the trademark, what exactly will it be, and how will I sell it?

It should also be noted that listing absolutely all goods belonging to Class 25 when you are not even producing them is also a bad idea. More is not always better.

What can the consequences be?

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883, establishes that if use of a registered mark is compulsory in a country, registration may be cancelled only after a fair period and only if the person concerned cannot justify their inaction. The Convention effectively grants permission to cancel a trademark if it is not used.

For a trademark registered in the EU, Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Union trade mark (EUTM) applies, which expressly provides that the rights of the owner of an EU trade mark shall be declared revoked on application to the Office or on the basis of a counterclaim in infringement proceedings, if within a continuous period of five years the trade mark has not been put to genuine use in the Union in connection with the goods or services in respect of which it is registered, and there are no proper reasons for non-use.

Read more about trademark registration in the EU for a clothing brand here.

Within the Madrid System there is no clear requirement to prove use of an international mark as a condition of securing its protection. However, owners should be aware that some members require owners to declare actual use or non-use of a mark throughout its lifecycle. In such cases, owners must file the relevant declarations and evidence directly with the relevant offices (Guide to the Madrid System: International Registration of Marks under the Madrid Protocol).

Ukrainian legislation provides that if a trademark is not used in Ukraine in full or in respect of part of the goods and services specified in the certificate, continuously for five years from the date of publication of information on the issuance of the certificate, or if its use has been discontinued for a continuous period of five years, any person has the right to apply to a court for early termination of the certificate in full or in respect of such goods or services (Part 4 of Article 18 of the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Rights to Marks for Goods and Services”).

What should I do if I want to expand the category of goods for my trademark?

It is simple: you need to file a new trademark application in a new class.

That is, it is not possible to add classes to an already registered trademark.

What related classes might be suitable for a clothing brand?

Class 18

One of the most common related classes for clothing brands is Class 18 of the Nice Classification. It covers goods made of leather and leather substitutes, including bags, suitcases, wallets, business card holders, travel accessories, and other items that logically complement the brand’s fashion concept. However, this class has clear boundaries and not all leather goods automatically belong to it. For example, clothing, footwear, and headwear made of tanned leather for people belong to Class 25 of the Nice Classification.

This class also excludes: bags and cases adapted for the goods they are intended to contain, such as laptop bags (Cl. 9), bags and cases for cameras and photographic equipment (Cl. 9), cases for musical instruments (Cl. 15), golf bags with or without wheels, covers specially designed for skis and surfboards (Cl. 28).

Class 23

In addition to finished clothing and accessories, some brands launch their own lines of materials, yarn, or goods for sewing or decoration. In such cases, it is worth looking at Class 23 of the Nice Classification, which covers yarns and threads for textile use. This class includes natural or synthetic yarns and threads for textile use. For example, glass fiber, elastic, rubber, and plastic threads for textile use, embroidery, darning, and sewing threads, including metallic ones, silk waste yarn, cotton yarn, and worsted wool yarn.

HOWEVER, this class does not include certain threads for specific uses, such as identification threads for electric wires (Cl. 9), surgical sutures (Cl. 10), and threads of precious metals that constitute jewelry (Cl. 14).

Class 26

For clothing brands, an important role is played not only by the products themselves, but also by the details that form a recognizable style and a complete look. Decorative elements, trimmings, haberdashery, and hair accessories, which are often an important part of the fashion concept, help with this.

Class 26 covers lace, braid, embroidered decorations, buttons, ribbons, artificial flowers, hair ornaments, and other similar goods. Registration of a trademark in this class makes it possible to protect not only finished clothing but also related design and decorative elements used in production or sold separately. At the same time, it is important to take into account the functional purpose of such goods, as individual products may belong to other classes of the Nice Classification depending on their characteristics and field of use.

In particular, Class 26 does not include: jewelry pendants, key ring fobs or key chain fobs (Cl. 14), certain ribbons and bows — for example, paper ribbons and bows, other than haberdashery or hair accessories (Cl. 16), ribbons for rhythmic gymnastics (Cl. 28).

Class 14

A special place in today’s selection is occupied by Class 14: precious metals and certain goods of or plated with precious metals, as well as jewelry, watches, and component parts therefor.

For luxury clothing brands specializing in expensive or limited collections, accessories made of precious metals and jewelry are not merely a supplement, but also part of their identity. Jewelry, watches, cufflinks, or designer pendants under the same brand as a clothing collection reinforce the status of the mark, form its unique identity, and increase its commercial value. This is precisely why such brands should consider adding Class 14 of the Nice Classification when registering their trademark, as it covers precious metals, jewelry, watches, and component parts therefor. Registration in this class makes it possible to protect premium accessories produced as part of expensive collections or planned for launch in the future. For example, jewelry, including costume jewelry, rhinestones, cufflinks, tie pins, tie clips, key rings, key chains and pendants therefor, and jewelry pendants. At the same time, it is important to clearly distinguish between jewelry and other decorative elements, as their classification depends on the material, functional purpose, and level of premium quality of the product.

Conclusion: first it is necessary to understand exactly what you will be producing!

Will it be exclusively clothing for people, or might you want to create a collection of clothing for animals?

You produce jackets (Class 25) + your jackets have interchangeable patches (Class 26) + bags and backpacks can be added to the collections (Class 18), and so on.

It is worth noting that quite a few clothing brands expand their range. In their collections one can find: ceramic tableware, perfumes, cosmetics, paper products, wallets, jewelry, decorative elements — and that means yet more new classes.

And what about services?

Oh, this is a very important part, because goods without their sale do not add up.

If you register a trademark only in Class 25, your mark will be protected only with respect to clothing, footwear, and headwear. All other areas of activity related to your brand will remain without legal protection.

For example, if someone registers or uses your name for retail services, online sales, marketing, or advertising activities (Class 35), your registration does not give you the right to prohibit such activities. That is, even if your brand is well known in the clothing segment, it is not legally protected at the level of services.

Class 35 of services includes: services relating to the retail sale of clothing virtually downloaded online, presentation of goods on communication media for retail purposes, publication of advertising texts, advertising, organization and administration in the field of business activities.

If you have already launched jackets, opened a store, and sales are going well, but you want to offer clients something additional and unique, we note that in addition to the already mentioned Class 35, a trademark can be registered in Class 40, which covers quilting services, embroidery services, bespoke tailoring services, textile dyeing, and textile finishing. Of course, this services class is more relevant for tailors, but if you wish to offer your clients product customization, it is worth looking at this class.

Of course, registering a trademark in several classes is more expensive, so it is always necessary to weigh all the pros and cons and build a strategy for the further sale of your goods.

As a result, we arrive at the following conclusion:

When registering a trademark for a clothing brand, the key is clearly defining what exactly you will produce and sell. The main Class 25 covers clothing, footwear, and headwear, but for special goods or accessories other classes may be needed (for example, 18, 23, 26).

It is important to list only those goods that you genuinely plan to produce, as improper or excessive expansion of the list can complicate the protection of the trademark and create a risk for its use.

Our law firm Legal IT Group helps specialists in various fields with the registration and protection of trademarks in many jurisdictions, including the EU. If you have questions regarding the determination of the jurisdiction that suits you, as well as assessing the chances of registration, the cost of state fees, and the procedural aspects of trademark registration, write to us and we will provide the details.