The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IPVN) has just issued Notice No. 11353/TB-SHTT dated 22 December 2022 to inform that the NCL Version 12.2023 under the Nice Agreement (1957) entered into force as of 01 January 2023, replacing the 2022 version of the 11th edition of the Nice Classification (NCL 11-2022), dated January 1, 2022.
Major changes in the 12th Edition include:
- Amendment of the headings of Class 45;
- Amendment of the Explanatory Note of 11 Classes, mostly class of services, i.e. Classes 06, 10, 20, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42 & 45;
- Addition of 185 new items;
- Deletion of 16 items;
- Reclassification of 08 items:
- “needles for wool combing machines” from Class 26 to Class 07
- revise “wet suits for water-skiing” to “wet suits” and transfer it from Class 25 to Class 09
- revise “bags for microwave cooking” to “bags for use in cooking” and transfer it from Class 16 to Class 21
- revise “toilet paper dispensers” to “boxes of metal for dispensing paper towels” and transfer it from Class 21 to Class 06
- revise “boxes for dispensing paper towels” to “boxes of metal for dispensing paper towels” and transfer it from Class 21 to Class 06
- “hospital beds” from Class 20 to Class 10
- revise “insulating gloves” to “insulating gloves for protection against accidents” and transfer it from Class 17 to Class 09
- revise “loading apparatus for furnaces” to “furnace loading machines” transfer it from Class 11 to Class 07
In the Vietnamese version, the IPVN now indicates all contents of Class headings, General remarks, Explanatory Notes, and List of Goods and Services in Alphabetical Order into one file which facilitates the search.
A full version of the 12th Edition of the Nice Classification is available at here.
Use of the Nice Classification is mandatory for the national registration of marks in Vietnam. If the Applicant does not classify the description of goods and services exactly according to the NCL, the IPVN will reclassify during its formality examination process and request additional fees for such classification.
With the rapid growth of global trade, more and more new goods and services are not mentioned in the Alphabetical List of NCL. Accordingly, it is necessary to follow the List of Classes, the Explanatory Notes, and general classification remarks to make the correct Classification.
In INVESTIP, we have highly qualified and experienced legal specialists who can get to know well the business of the client and suggest the most proper trademark goods and services specifications as per NCL. Please contact us if you need any further assistance. Thank you.
By Nguyen Thi Nhung
Deputy Director of Trademark Department
