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Notice No. 8/25

of the President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office of 19 December 2025 concerning the 13th edition of the international Nice Classification (in force as from 1 January 2026) and concerning the publication of the list of classes and the alphabetical lists of goods and services in the Federal Gazette

On 1 January 2026, the 13th edition of the "International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification)" (NCL 13-2026) will enter into force.

Since 2023, annual new versions of the 12th edition of the Nice Classification which provide for a number of new entries and deletions have been published. The new 13th edition also includes changes of classes. The new edition contains amendments concerning

• the alphabetical lists of goods and services;
• the lists of classes;
• the class headings and the explanatory notes.

The 13th edition of the lists of classes and the alphabetical lists of goods and services based on the Nice Classification will be published in the Federal Gazette (www.bundesanzeiger.de). Pursuant to section 19 of the Trade Mark Ordinance (Markenverordnung), it will be applied to the procedures at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) from 1 January 2026. The version of the lists of classes and the alphabetical lists of goods and services published in the Federal Gazette ( Bundesanzeiger) is also available on the website of the DPMA.

The DPMA will implement the amendments resulting from the 13th edition of the Nice Classification as follows:

• Trade mark applications received by the DPMA on or after 1 January 2026 will be classified in accordance with the 13th edition of the Nice Classification. These applications must indicate the goods and services in the order provided by the lists of classes applicable from 1 January 2026 (section 20 (4) of the Trade Mark Ordinance).
• The class fees will be determined according to the lists of classes applicable at the date on which the DPMA receives the application.
• A reclassification based on a new edition of the Nice Classification will be made neither in pending application procedures nor with respect to the renewal of the duration of protection of trade marks, not even upon request (see Important Notice of 14 December 2018 on the Trade Mark Law Modernisation Act [Markenrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz]).

An overview of the key structural amendments (changes of classes) to the 13th edition is available here (in German).

The President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office
Eva Schewior

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Last updated: 19 December 2026