Vienna Classification
The Vienna Classification categorises the figurative (pictorial) elements of trademarks, distinct from the Nice Classification's goods-and-services categories.
Finin2min Summary — in 2 Minutes
The Vienna Classification categorises the figurative (pictorial) elements of trademarks, distinct from the Nice Classification's goods-and-services categories.
Official source and legal ownership
What this covers
The Vienna Classification, established under the Vienna Agreement, categorises the figurative elements of marks - the pictorial or design components of a logo or composite mark - into a hierarchical system of categories, divisions and sections, distinct from and complementary to the Nice Classification's goods/services categories.
How this is used in practice
Trademark offices (including India's) use Vienna Classification codes to categorise a mark's visual elements for search and examination purposes, making it possible to search for potentially conflicting marks based on similar visual/figurative content, not only similar wording.
Why it matters
Because Vienna Classification searches can surface visually similar marks that a purely word-based search would miss, a thorough trademark clearance search for a logo or composite mark should include a Vienna Classification-based figurative-element search, not rely solely on searching the mark's literal text.
Source and review trail
Use the current official instrument, portal or regulator publication before acting. This panel separates the category authority from page-specific references.
- Official starting point
- ipindia.gov.in