T.M.E.P. § 1609.04
Amendment of Classification

Executive summary:

This document contains one section of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (the "TMEP"), Fourth Edition (April 2005). This page was last updated in June 2007. You may return to one either the section index, or to the key word index. If you wish to search the TMEP, simply use the search box that appears on the bottom of every page of BitLaw--be sure to restrict your search to the TMEP in the pop-up list.

For more information on trademark law, please see the Trademark Section of BitLaw.

Previous Section (§1609.03) | Next Section (§1609.05)

1609.04 Amendment of Classification

Classification of Goods/Services in Registered Extension of Protection Cannot be Amended Under §7

The classification of goods/services in a registered extension of protection of an international registration to the United States cannot be amended under §7 of the Trademark Act. TMEP §1609.01(a). All requests to record changes to an international registration must be filed at the IB. See TMEP §§1906.01 et seq. regarding requests to record changes at the IB. See also TMEP §1401.03(d) regarding amendment of the classification in a pending application under §66(a) of the Trademark Act.

Amendment of Registration Based on §1 or §44 Application

In a registration that issued based on an application under §1 or §44 of the Trademark Act, the classification of the goods/services may be amended under §7 of the Trademark Act, if the requested international classification is consistent with the current version of the Nice Agreement. In such a case, the USPTO will amend the international classification of goods/services and issue an updated registration certificate with the new classification noted.

The owner of a registration may reclassify registrations from multiple U.S. classes into a single international classification. For example, goods in U.S. classes 21 and 26 often fall into only International Class 9. Hence, an owner can request an amendment from U.S. classes 21 and 26 into International Class 9.

The amendment must include the fee required by 37 C.F.R. 2.6 for §7 amendments.

The owner must reclassify all the goods/services in the registration to the international classification system.