Trademark Class 36: Financial, insurance and real estate services
Money and property services — banking, lending, payments, insurance, investment and real estate.
“Insurance; financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs.”
Official class heading, Nice Agreement, Eleventh Edition. Published by the USPTO.
Typical goods and services in class 36
- Banking, lending and mortgage services
- Payment processing and fintech services
- Insurance and insurance brokerage
- Investment and wealth management
- Real estate brokerage and property management
- Cryptocurrency exchange services
Example of pre-approved USPTO wording for this class: Financial services. Using the USPTO’s own ID Manual language keeps your filing fee at the base rate — describing your goods in your own words carries a surcharge of $200 per class.
Commonly confused with class 36
These look like they belong here and do not. Each one is a separate class with a separate $350 government fee, and a class cannot be added to an application once it has been filed.
Accounting and bookkeeping
Class 35 — Advertising, retail and business services
Financial software sold as a download
Class 9 — Software, apps and electronics
Financial platforms offered as SaaS
Class 42 — SaaS, IT and design services
Legal services
Class 45 — Legal, security and personal services
Filing in one class
A single-class application in class 36 costs $350 in USPTO government fees, paid to the government, plus our flat fee of $199 — $549 in total. Every additional class is another $350. Government fees are current as of 18 January 2025.
Work out how many classes you need Check if the name is taken
This page describes how the USPTO groups goods and services in general. It is not legal advice about your application, and the lists above are written for the common case rather than being exhaustive. Which classes you actually need depends on what you sell, and a licensed attorney confirms them before anything is filed.
Classes either side of this one
Class 34 — Tobacco, vaping and smokers' articles
Tobacco, tobacco substitutes, vaping products and smokers' accessories.
Class 35 — Advertising, retail and business services
The most commonly forgotten class in the entire system. Selling products is one thing; running the shop you sell them in is a separate service, and this is it.
Class 37 — Construction, installation and repair
Building things, installing things and fixing things — the trades, in one class.
Class 38 — Telecommunications
Carrying other people's messages and signals. A narrow class, and a commonly mis-selected one: most apps are not telecoms businesses.