The Hong Kong Trade Marks Registry has updated its Work Manual chapters on Classification and Cross-search list to align with the 13th edition of the WIPO Nice Classification, effective from 1 January 2026.
Key Classification Updates
This latest edition has made several significant updates to the way goods and services are classified. The revisions aim to introduce practical and meaningful changes to better reflect modern goods and services and improve clarity for stakeholders. Here are the key changes that could impact your brand strategy:
1. Refreshed class headings
The most noticeable adjustments are:
- Class 3 has been streamlined, with an emphasis on “perfumes”.
- Class 9 adds an explanatory note that “spectacles, contact lenses, and sunglasses” are excluded (reference should now be made to Class 10).
2. Key transfers of goods to new classes
A number of items have been reallocated to classes that better match their nature:
- Most eyewear and optical items (e.g., spectacles, sunglasses, corrective lenses, frames, cases and accessories, contact lenses, etc) → have been moved from Class 9 to Class 10 to align with their medical and therapeutic purpose rather than with more technological and electronic goods. Optical instruments such as magnifying glasses and telescopes remain in class 9.
- Emergency/rescue vehicles and equipment (e.g., fire engines, fire boats, lifeboats, life-saving rafts, evacuation chairs) → have been transferred from Class 9 to Class 12 so that all vehicles are together in one class.
- Surf skis have also been moved from Class 28 to Class 12 as they are a type of vehicle rather than a toy or sporting equipment.
- Tongue scrapers (a product long popular in Chinese culture) → shifted from Class 10 to Class 21.
- Electrically heated clothing → relocated from Class 11 to Class 25 to reflect their primary identity as garments.
3. Clearer classification for essential oils
Essential oils are now categorised according to their intended purpose:
- For industrial/manufacturing use → Class 1 (e.g., “essential oils for use in manufacture”).
- For fragrancing or cosmetic purposes → Class 3 (e.g., “essential oils for fragrancing”).
- For medical or therapeutic use including aromatherapy → Class 5.
Related deletions include “food flavourings [essential oils]” from Class 3 (now covered under Class 30 as “food flavourings”).
4. New indications added
“Artificial intelligence as a service [AIaaS]” is now explicitly recognised in Class 42.
5. Updated cross-search list
The Registry’s guide for identifying potential conflicts during examination has been revised to reflect all the above changes, ensuring more accurate and relevant searches.
These are just a few of the major changes. For more information on the Trade Marks Registry’s revised Trade Mark Manual chapters, please see here.
Why this matters for your brands
- Clearance searches before filing — Always check both old and new classes for affected goods/services to uncover hidden conflicts.
- Specification drafting — Use accurate, current terminology to avoid objections—the shifts and new entries demand extra care to make sure that multifunctional products are correctly classified.
- Trade mark watching/monitoring — Revise scopes to include updated cross-search classes and new indications for thorough protection.
- Applications filed before 1 January 2026 will be examined according to the old classification, with new filings to follow the revised system.
- For existing registrations, there will be no automatic reclassification. However, the changes can influence renewals, oppositions, invalidity proceedings, renewals, or enforcement actions, so it will be worth reviewing key marks.
- For many, this may be a good opportunity to audit and update your portfolio and review relevant agreements relating to your trade marks.
If you would like the Deacons Intellectual Property team to review how these updates affect your portfolio or upcoming filings, please feel free to contact us at ip@deacons.com.
