2.3 Classification resources

The General Remarks and Explanatory Notes sections of the Nice Classification books provide general guidelines to the classification system. The General Remarks are found on page 3, and the Explanatory Notes on pages 7-33.

Both the UK Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office have online databases containing a list of goods and services. Although some of the items in these databases appear in the Nice Classification books, others are not specifically mentioned there. The databases may thus be of assistance in determining the correct classification of goods or services that are not listed in the Nice Classification books. The UK Patent Office classification database is located at http://webdb2.patent.gov.uk. The United States Patent and Trademark Office classification database is located at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/gsmanual.

The Classification Annexure, which is annexed to these Guidelines, should also be referred to as it lists a number of common classification issues.