Ask most business owners what Class 35 covers and they'll guess "business stuff." That's not wrong, but it misses how critical this class is for every physical or online retailer on the planet. The retailers you interact with daily — Amazon, Target, Walmart, Apple Stores — all rely on Class 35 registrations as a core part of their trademark strategy.
Class 35 covers advertising and business services, but its most commercially important function is protecting retail store services. And that affects almost every consumer brand, not just pure-play retailers.
The Retail Services Gap That Catches Brands Off Guard
Here's the scenario trademark attorneys see regularly: a product company files a trademark in the class that covers their physical goods — Class 25 for clothing, Class 3 for cosmetics, Class 28 for toys. They get the registration, put the ® on their packaging, and feel protected.
Then a competitor opens a retail store with the same name. The product trademark doesn't stop them. Because selling products and operating a retail store are legally distinct activities — they belong to different trademark classes.
This is the retail services gap. If you sell products through your own store, website, or marketplace, you need Class 35 for the retail channel in addition to the product class. Without it, your trademark covers the goods but not how you distribute them.
Example: Nike holds Class 25 registrations for athletic footwear (the shoes themselves) and Class 35 registrations for retail store services in the field of athletic footwear (the stores and website). Both are necessary. One without the other leaves a gap.
What Class 35 Actually Covers
Beyond retail, Class 35 is genuinely broad. It includes:
- Retail store services — in-person, online, and catalog
- Advertising and marketing services
- Business management consulting
- Recruitment and staffing services
- Market research and data compilation services
- Franchising services
- PR and public relations services
- Business process outsourcing
- Auction services and online marketplaces
The Amazon Problem
Amazon's trademark strategy illustrates exactly why Class 35 matters. The company holds Class 35 registrations for retail services spanning virtually every product category imaginable. This gives them the right to operate a retail channel in any product space under the Amazon brand, even for products Amazon doesn't manufacture.
Any brand that sells on Amazon — or plans to build its own direct-to-consumer channel — is operating a retail service. If the brand name is commercially meaningful, protecting it in Class 35 is not optional, it's foundational.
Advertising Agencies and Consultants
For service-based businesses in marketing, advertising, PR, or business consulting, Class 35 is the primary trademark class. The trademark covers the firm's name as applied to the services it sells — not a physical product, but the professional services themselves.
A marketing agency named "Velocity" registers "Velocity" in Class 35 for advertising and marketing services. That registration gives them the right to use that name in their market and prevents a competitor agency from using the same name for the same services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my Etsy shop need a Class 35 trademark?
If your Etsy shop is operating under a brand name you want to protect long-term, yes — Class 35 for retail services is appropriate alongside whatever class covers the products you sell. The trademark protects the brand name across both the product and the sales channel.
I run a franchise. Where does that go?
Franchising services — selling business franchises, granting licenses to franchisees — belong in Class 35. Most franchise brands also register in whatever class covers their core product or service (food franchises in Class 43 for restaurant services, for example), but the franchise operation itself is a Class 35 activity.
What's the difference between Class 35 and Class 36?
Class 35 is business and retail services. Class 36 is financial services — banking, insurance, real estate, investment management. A fintech company that provides software tools for financial management might need Class 35 (business services) and Class 36 (financial services) and Class 42 (software services). These boundaries are genuinely blurry, and professional guidance is often necessary to identify the right combination.
Explore Class 35 trademark registrations to understand the competitive landscape before filing.