CNIPA issues Notice Implementing Nice Agreement Classification Changes

The Trademark Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issues a notice to incorporate classification changes adopted by the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Agreement). These changes are listed in the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), which is published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and will become effective on January 1, 2022.

The CNIPA has revised the Similar Goods and Services Classification Table (《类似商品和服务区分表》) in Chinese to incorporate classification changes and modifications, as listed in the Nice Classification (11th edition, version 2022), published by WIPO, that will become effective on January 1, 2022.

 The countries party to the Nice Agreement constitute a Special Union within the framework of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property. They have adopted and apply the Nice Classification for the purposes of the registration of marks.

 Each of the countries party to the Nice Agreement is obliged to apply the Nice Classification in connection with the registration of marks, either as the principal classification or as a subsidiary classification, and has to include in the official documents and publications relating to its registrations of marks the numbers of the classes of the Classification to which the goods or services for which the marks are registered belong.

 The full text of the notice with the Classification Table as an attachment is available here.

Source:China Intellectual Property