The Classification system

When you apply to register a trademark, you must specify the products and/or services for which it will be used. For administrative reasons, all products and services are divided into categories (classes). 

The products and services that you choose, determine the scope of protection afforded by your trademark. In other words, your trademark rights will only apply to those products and services that you specify. Think carefully about which you choose, because you cannot add any extra ones to your trademark application once it has been filed. Also bear in mind that you must use your trademark for the products and services that you select.

BIP SXM uses the worldwide accepted and harmonized Nice Classification for the trademark application assessment.

The Nice Classification (NCL), established by the Nice Agreement (1957), is an international classification of goods and services applied for the registration of marks.  A new edition is published every five years and, since 2013, a new version of each edition is published annually. Find out more about the NCL. 

Preparing your trademark application: choosing products and services

Before applying to register your trademark, you can get an idea of the terms that you might want to select. You can peruse them in the Nice Classification (NCL) on the WIPO website.

If you apply to register your trademark online with BIP SXM, you will search the same database when compiling the list of products and services in your application. The products and services which you select will then be automatically allocated to the right class. Online registration of a trademark in Sint Maarten includes 3 classes and costs XCG 750/ $ 417. If you choose more classes, an additional fee of Naf 75 / $ 42 applies for each extra class.

And if your product/service is not mentioned?

If you can't find your specific product or service in the Harmonized Database you can enter your own text during the application process. Using your own text could delay the procedure, as the terms used are not yet featured in the NCL. We first need to  check those terms that are not featured.

What should you pay attention to?