Print Version
  Trademarks Patents Designs Copyright

What is Intellectual Property? > Designs > How to classify my articles?

Designs

How to classify my articles?

Your application must include a list of all articles which you want to register your designs with. You must list the articles in the class or classes they fall into. You should also state the number of class they fall into. Below is the general classification under the Locarno Classification (9th Edition) by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) which guide you how to find out the classes that your articles fall into.

Locarno Classification List

The International Classification for Industrial Designs ("the Locarno Classification") published by the World Intellectual Property Organization is the system adopted for classifying design articles. For details of the Locarno Classification, please refer to the website at http://www.wipo.int/classifications/fulltext/locarno/enmn01.htm.

The class and sub-class of the registered design records show the classification at the time of registration of the registered designs. They are not re-classified in accordance with the latest edition of the Locarno classification published by WIPO. The Locarno Classification is "solely of an administrative character"; it facilitates design searches and obviates substantial reclassification work when documents are exchanged at the international level.

According to the Locarno Classification, Class 32 sub-class 00 is the class to which the items “graphic symbols and logos, surface patterns, ornamentation” belong. Under section 2 of the Registered Designs Ordinance (Cap. 522), “design” is defined as “features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article by any industrial process …” and “article” means "any article of manufacture and includes any part of an article if that part is made and sold separately".

Accordingly, if you wish to apply for registration of a design in respect of “graphic symbols and logos, surface patterns, ornamentation” (or any of the above items), you need to specify the article(s) to which the relevant Class 32 sub-class 00 items are to be applied and state the class and sub-class of the article(s) in accordance with the Locarno Classification. For example, if you wish to seek registration of a design in respect of an “ornamentation” and the ornamentation is to be applied to handbags, the article and the classification may be stated as “ornamentation for handbags” and “3-01” respectively in Application Form D1 instead of “ornamentation” and “32-00” respectively.

If you file an application for registration of design and wish to claim priority in your application based on a previous application for registration of the same design filed in a Paris Convention country or a World Trade Organization member, you are required to specify the article and the class in your application form as mentioned in the preceding paragraph even if such previous application is classified in Class 32 sub-class 00.

LIST OF CLASSES
 
Class 1 FOODSTUFFS
Class 2 ARTICLES OF CLOTHING AND HABERDASHERY
Class 3 TRAVEL GOODS, CASES, PARASOLS AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS, NOT ELSEWHERE SPECIFIED
Class 4 BRUSHWARE
Class 5 TEXTILE PIECEGOODS, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL SHEET MATERIAL
Class 6 FURNISHING
Class 7 HOUSEHOLD GOODS, NOT ELSEWHERE SPECIFIED
Class 8 TOOLS AND HARDWARE
Class 9 PACKAGES AND CONTAINERS FOR THE TRANSPORT OR HANDLING OF GOODS
Class 10 CLOCKS AND WATCHES AND OTHER MEASURING INSTRUMENTS, CHECKING AND SIGNALLING INSTRUMENTS
Class 11 ARTICLES OF ADORNMENT
Class 12 MEANS OF TRANSPORT OR HOISTING
Class 13 EQUIPMENT FOR PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION OR TRANSFORMATION OF ELECTRICITY
Class 14 RECORDING, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL EQUIPMENT
Class 15 MACHINES, NOT ELSEWHERE SPECIFIED
Class 16 PHOTOGRAPHIC, CINEMATOGRAPHIC AND OPTICAL APPARATUS
Class 17 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Class 18 PRINTING AND OFFICE MACHINERY
Class 19 STATIONERY AND OFFICE EQUIPMENT, ARTISTS' AND TEACHING MATERIALS
Class 20 SALES AND ADVERTISING EQUIPMENT, SIGNS
Class 21 GAMES, TOYS, TENTS AND SPORTS GOODS
Class 22 ARMS, PYROTECHNIC ARTICLES, ARTICLES FOR HUNTING, FISHING AND PEST KILLING
Class 23 FLUID DISTRIBUTION EQUIPMENT, SANITARY, HEATING, VENTILATION AND AIR-CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT, SOLID FUEL
Class 24 MEDICAL AND LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
Class 25 BUILDING UNITS AND CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS
Class 26 LIGHTING APPARATUS
Class 27 TOBACCO AND SMOKERS' SUPPLIES
Class 28 PHARMACEUTICAL AND COSMETIC PRODUCTS, TOILET ARTICLES AND APPARATUS
Class 29 DEVICES AND EQUIPMENT AGAINST FIRE HAZARDS, FOR ACCIDENT PREVENTION AND FOR RESCUE
Class 30 ARTICLES FOR THE CARE AND HANDLING OF ANIMALS
Class 31 MACHINES AND APPLIANCES FOR PREPARING FOOD OR DRINK NOT ELSEWHERE SPECIFIED
Class 32 GRAPHIC SYMBOLS AND LOGOS, SURFACE PATTERNS, ORNAMENTATION
 
BACK TOP