Intellectual Property Law

What is International Class 25 All About?

Each class has a short title heading that gives a snapshot of what that class is all about -- IC 25's short title is clothing. But, as with anything trademark, there's more to it than that. The USPTO has 887 accepted descriptions that fit into IC 25; check them out here.

IC 25 is pretty straightforward in that clothing of virtually any type you can think of is going to be here. The exceptions are clothing that's of a protective nature (e.g. bulletproof vests, clothing worn by motorcyclists for protection against injury), which, oddly enough, is in IC 9

How do I File in IC 25?

Filing in IC 25 is a bit different from other goods classes in terms of the required specimen. When it comes to clothing, the best thing to send to the USPTO is either a tag or a label. This makes it clear that the name and/or logo is being used for a clothing line. Your specimen can be a tag that's attached to the garment, such as a hang tag, or it can be a tag that's sewn into the garment.

The USPTO will no longer accept a picture of, for instance, a t-shirt with the name appearing only on the front. Those days are over. The USPTO considers this ornamental as it's "conveying a message rather than indicating the source of the goods."

What Else is in International Class 25?

Seems like with any of these trademark classes, there always seems to be the oddball item or two and IC 25 is no exception. Here are a few items living in IC 25 that seem a bit off:

? gift packages sold as a unit consisting primarily of a sweatshirt and also including a photo frame, a coffee mug, and a tote bag
? race number belts that hold a paper number on the race participant's front or back during competition
? undergarment accessories, namely, removable silicone buttock enhancer pads

Full post as published by TradeMark Express: A Daily Blog on July 28, 2009 (boomark / email).