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Notice No. 11/22

of the President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office of 13 December 2022 concerning the 12th edition of the international Nice Classification (in force as from 1 January 2023) and concerning the publication of the list of classes and the alphabetical lists of goods and services in the Federal Gazette

On 1 January 2023, the 12th edition of the “International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification)” (NCL 12-2023) will enter into force.
Since 2017, annual new versions of the 11th edition of the Nice Classification which provide for a number of new entries and deletions have been published. The new 12th edition also includes changes of classes. The new edition contains amendments concerning

  • the alphabetical lists of goods and services;
  • the lists of classes;
  • the class headings and the explanatory notes.

On 22 December 2022, the 12th edition of the lists of classes and the alphabetical lists of goods and services based on the Nice Classification was published in the Federal Gazette (www.bundesanzeiger.de). Pursuant to section 19 of the Trade Mark Ordinance (Markenverordnung), it will be applied to the procedures at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) from 1 January 2023. The version of the lists of classes and the alphabetical lists of goods and services published in the Federal Gazette (externer Link Bundesanzeiger) is also available on the website of the DPMA.

The DPMA will implement the amendments resulting from the 12th edition of the Nice Classification as follows:

  • Trade mark applications received by the DPMA on or after 1 January 2023 will be classified in accordance with the 12th edition of the Nice Classification. These applications must indicate the goods and services in the order provided by the lists of classes applicable from 1 January 2023 (section 20 (4) of the Trade Mark Ordinance).
  • The class fees will be determined according to the lists of classes applicable at the date on which the DPMA receives the application.
  • A reclassification based on a new edition of the Nice Classification will be made neither in pending application procedures nor with respect to the renewal of the duration of protection of trade marks, not even upon request (see Important Notice of 14 December 2018 on the Trade Mark Law Modernisation Act [Markenrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz]).

An overview of the key structural amendments (changes of classes) to the 12th edition is available pdf-Datei here.

The President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office
Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer

1243-4.3.3/2022-1

Last updated: 24 October 2024