The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trademarks and copyright.
The IPO has launched a new service that allows users to search for the goods and services they intend to use their trade mark on before they apply.
Intellectual Property Offices worldwide use a trade mark classification system that groups together similar goods or services into 45 different classes. This is referred to as the Nice Classification.
While a member state of the EU, the IPO contributed to and shared a common classification system called TMClass. TMClass is a classification search tool provided by the EUIPO. With the transition period relating to the UK’s exit from the EU ending on 31 December 2020, a new UK specific database was required.
The search UK trade mark classes service is available from the GOV.UK website.
