The Beer Anomaly
Here's the detail that trips up almost every new filer: beer is in Class 32, not Class 33. Historically, beer got grouped with non-alcoholic beverages because of shared production and distribution patterns, while wine and distilled spirits went into Class 33. So a brewery files in Class 32, a distillery or winery files in Class 33, and a company doing both needs both registrations — there's no single "alcohol class" that covers everything.
Beyond that quirk, Class 32 is the entire soft-drink and brewing aisle: beer and ale, mineral and bottled water, sodas, fruit juices and juice drinks, energy and sports drinks, smoothies, and the syrups, concentrates, and powders used to prepare them. If a drink has no distilled or fermented wine base, it's almost certainly here.
What's In, What's Out
| Class 32 (in) | Elsewhere (out) |
|---|---|
| Beer, ale, lager, "0.0%" non-alcoholic beer | Wine, spirits, liqueurs — Class 33 |
| Bottled and sparkling water, sodas | Coffee, tea, cocoa drinks — Class 30 |
| Fruit and vegetable juices | Milkshakes and dairy-based drinks — Class 29 |
| Energy drinks, sports drinks | Non-alcoholic wine/spirit alternatives — often Class 33 by market category |
| Syrups and concentrates for drinks | — |
A "coffee energy drink" can blur the Class 30/32 line, and a milk-based protein shake blurs Class 29/32. When a product genuinely sits on the seam, brands typically file across the relevant classes rather than pick one and hope.
Note on non-alcoholic alternatives: a 0.0% beer stays in Class 32 with regular beer, but a non-alcoholic wine or spirit alternative is frequently filed in Class 33 to sit beside the products it competes with. Classification can follow the market category as much as the actual alcohol content.
Craft Beer's Naming Crisis
Two problems dominate refusals here. The universal one is descriptiveness — "Pure Spring Water" or "Natural Energy" describes the product and gets refused. The one specific to this class is sheer crowding, especially in craft beer. The explosion of breweries has left thousands of beer names already registered or in active use, and new applications collide constantly under a likelihood-of-confusion analysis.
Craft beer naming has gotten so contested that breweries now run clearance searches before they brew a batch — because a great name that infringes an existing mark is worthless once a cease-and-desist arrives. The reasoning behind running that search early is spelled out in our guide on trademark search before launch. On the enforcement side, Monster Energy is known for unusually broad and aggressive Class 32 enforcement, while Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Anheuser-Busch anchor some of the most valuable and most litigated marks in the entire beverage industry.
Filing Strategy for a Crowded Category
Because the field is so saturated, beverage founders should file early and file precisely. Intent-to-use applications lock in a priority date before the first sale — valuable when someone else may be eyeing the same name. Be exact in the goods description: "beer" and "energy drinks" are accepted terms, but vague phrasing like "beverages" invites an office action. A brewery that adds a malt-based hard seltzer stays in Class 32, but one that launches a spirits-based canned cocktail needs Class 33 too, covered in our Class 33 guide. A taproom serving drinks on-site adds Class 43 for the hospitality side, and Class 35 covers retail or online distribution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is beer in Class 32 or Class 33?
Beer is in Class 32, grouped with non-alcoholic beverages. Wine, spirits, and other alcoholic drinks besides beer are in Class 33. A company making both needs registrations in both classes.
What class are energy drinks in?
Energy and sports drinks are Class 32 non-alcoholic beverages. Red Bull and Monster, the two dominant brands, both anchor their portfolios here.
Why is it so hard to trademark a craft beer name?
Class 32 is one of the most saturated classes at the USPTO because of the craft-brewing boom, and thousands of existing names create frequent likelihood-of-confusion conflicts. A thorough clearance search before naming a beer is essential.
Do I need Class 32 and Class 33 for a hard seltzer?
It depends on the base — a malt- or sugar-fermented seltzer is often Class 32, while a spirits-based one is Class 33. Many companies file both to cover their full range.
Use tmarkmetric to browse registered Class 32 trademarks and search the full registry before you commit to branding, cans, and labels. Catching a conflict on day one is cheap; discovering it after launch is not.