Trademark Class 15 of Nice Classification - the complete guide

What is Trademark Class 15?

Trademark Class 15 covers musical instruments and their accessories. This class is essential for businesses involved in the production, distribution, and maintenance of musical instruments.

Examples include guitars, pianos, and electric keyboards. Class 15 ensures proper trademark classification for music-related products.

What are key features of Class 15?

Key features include acoustic and electric instruments, accessories, and tools designed for music creation and maintenance.

Class 15 for trademarks: a brief description

Class 15 encompasses a variety of musical instruments and accessories, from acoustic to electric. This class supports businesses catering to musicians, music educators, and hobbyists.

Products in this class are vital for creating and performing music.

Practical examples of Class 15

Examples include guitar manufacturers, piano producers, and companies specializing in drum kits or accessories.

What Does Class 15 Include?

Class 15 basically consists of musical instruments, traditional and electronic, their integral parts, and accessories. This class represents any goods used in playing, tuning, and maintenance of musical instruments.

Key Products in Class 15

This class relates to the mechanical musical instruments and accessories therefor, for example, barrel organs, mechanical pianos, robot drums and intensity regulating apparatus of the type used with mechanical pianos wherein the sound is produced by a purely mechanical element, without amplification through an electric circuit. This class also pertains to musical boxes falling within this category.

Class 15 includes all electrical and electronic musical instruments, which reflects the modern developments in digital and amplified music. Accessories for musical instruments, for example, strings, reeds, pegs, and pedals, also belong to this class because they constitute vital adjuncts to the playing and tuning of a great many instruments.

Other examples of notable inclusions are the tuning tools like tuning forks and tuning hammers used for setting musical instruments at the right pitch. Also, colophony, otherwise known as rosin for stringed instruments, is classified under this class since it increases friction between the bow and the strings to produce better quality in sound. Covering both mechanical and electronic instruments together with accessories, Class 15 allows for the right classification of music equipment and associated products.

Trademark Class 15 does not include

While Class 15 primarily covers musical instruments and their accessories, some related products are specifically excluded and classified under other trademark classes. These usually include electronic sound equipment, digital and printed music files, and mechanical devices related to music playback.

For example, instruments serving for the recording, transmission, amplification, and reproduction of sound are not classified under Class 15. Examples of goods that fall outside this class include electric and electronic effects apparatus for use with musical instruments, wah-wah pedals, audio interfaces, audio mixers, equalizers, and subwoofers, all of which are classified under Class 9, since they are sound-processing apparatus rather than musical instruments.

Additional Exclusions

Music in digital or printed form does not come under Class 15. Downloadable music files and electronic sheet music would fall under Class 9, as these are digital content rather than physical musical instruments or accessories. In the same light, printed sheet music falls under Class 16 since it borders on publications and printed matters.

Other exclusions include musical juke boxes, classified under Class 9 because of their electronic and mechanical playback; metronomes, which regulate the beat for musicians, also under Class 9. Musical greeting cards that include pre-recorded sounds are excluded from Class 15 and placed under Class 16 since these are decorative and communicative, rather than an instrument per se. These exclusions ensure that businesses classify their products under the proper class of trademark for proper classification and protection by law.

Full list of goods or services

150001 — accordions,
150002 — tuning hammers,
150003 — reeds,
150004 — bows for musical instruments,
150005 — bow nuts for musical instruments,
150006 — sticks for bows for musical instruments,
150007 — horsehair for bows for musical instruments,
150008 — pianos,
150009 — conductors' batons,
150010 — drumsticks,
150011 — bandonions,
150012 — barrel organs,
150013 — basses [musical instruments],
150014 — harmonicas,
150015 — catgut for musical instruments,
150016 — buccins [trumpets],
150017 — carillons [musical instruments],
150018 — castanets,
150019 — hats with bells [musical instruments],
150020 — kettledrum frames,
150021 — pegs for musical instruments,
150022 — zithers,
150023 — clarionets,
150024 — keyboards for musical instruments,
150025 — musical instruments,
150026 — concertinas,
150027 — double basses,
150028 — strings for musical instruments,
150029 — stringed musical instruments,
150030 — horns [musical instruments],
150031 — cornets [musical instruments],
150032 — cymbals,
150033 — tuning forks,
150034 — mouthpieces for musical instruments,
150035 — cases for musical instruments,
150036 — flutes,
150037 — gongs,
150038 — Jews' harps [musical instruments],
150039 — guitars,
150040 — harmoniums,
150041 — harps,
150042 — harp strings,
150043 — oboes,
150044 — electronic musical instruments,
150045 — intensity regulators for mechanical pianos,
150046 — lyres,
150048 — plectrums / picks for stringed instruments,
150049 — mandolins,
150050 — chin rests for violins,
150051 — bagpipes,
150052 — musical boxes,
150053 — turning apparatus for sheet music,
150054 — bridges for musical instruments,
150055 — triangles [musical instruments],
150056 — ocarinas,
150057 — organs,
150058 — wind pipes for organs,
150059 — drumheads / skins for drums,
150060 — pedals for musical instruments,
150061 — piano keyboards,
150062 — piano strings,
150063 — piano keys,
150064 — bellows for musical instruments,
150065 — mutes for musical instruments / dampers for musical instruments,
150066 — drums [musical instruments],
150067 — tambourines,
150068 — tom-toms,
150069 — kettledrums,
150070 — trombones,
150071 — clarions,
150072 — trumpets,
150073 — valves for musical instruments,
150074 — violas,
150075 — violins,
150076 — xylophones,
150077 — keys for musical instruments,
150078 — music rolls [piano],
150079 — perforated music rolls,
150080 — music stands,
150081 — huqin [Chinese violins],
150082 — bamboo flutes,
150083 — pipa [Chinese guitars],
150084 — sheng [Chinese musical wind instruments],
150085 — suona [Chinese trumpets],
150086 — handbells [musical instruments],
150087 — music synthesizers,
150088 — stands for musical instruments,
150089 — saxophones,
150090 — balalaikas [stringed musical instruments],
150091 — banjos,
150092 — melodicas,
150093 — colophony for stringed musical instruments / rosin for stringed musical instruments,
150094 — robotic drums,
150095 — mallets for musical instruments,
150096 — straps for musical instruments,
150097 — singing bowls,
150098 — drum machines,
150099 — musical instruments for children.