Trademark Class 40: Manufacturing and treatment of materials
Making or altering something to a customer's order. Custom manufacturing, printing and finishing all sit here — which is where print-on-demand businesses often belong.
“Treatment of materials; recycling of waste and trash; air purification and treatment of water; printing services; food and drink preservation.”
Official class heading, Nice Agreement, Eleventh Edition. Published by the USPTO.
Typical goods and services in class 40
- Custom manufacturing for others
- Printing services, including garment and screen printing
- Embroidery and textile treatment
- Recycling and waste treatment
- Water and air purification
- Food processing for others
Commonly confused with class 40
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.
The finished goods you make and sell under your own name
Takes its own class, depending on what the product is.
Printed matter as a product
Class 16 — Paper, stationery and printed matter
Construction and installation
Class 37 — Construction, installation and repair
Product design
Class 42 — SaaS, IT and design services
If you print other people's designs onto blank garments, that is a class 40 service. If you sell your own printed shirts under your own brand, that is class 25 goods. Many print-on-demand businesses genuinely do both.
Filing in one class
A single-class application in class 40 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 38 — Telecommunications
Carrying other people's messages and signals. A narrow class, and a commonly mis-selected one: most apps are not telecoms businesses.
Class 39 — Transport, delivery and travel
Moving people or goods from one place to another, storing them, and arranging travel.
Class 41 — Education, training and entertainment
Teaching, training, publishing and entertaining. If you make content or run classes under your brand, this is your class whatever the subject matter.
Class 42 — SaaS, IT and design services
Technology delivered as a service. If customers log into your product rather than downloading it, you are in class 42 — and quite possibly in class 9 as well.