From 27 April to 2 May, representatives of the State Organization “Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovation” (UANIPIO / the IP Office) participated in the 35th session of the Committee of Experts of the Nice Union held in Geneva, Switzerland.

The purpose of the session was to introduce changes, additions and amendments to the International Classification of Goods and Services for the purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification) submitted by offices from various countries and the International Bureau of WIPO in accordance with the current trends in the global market and the requirements of modern business.

The Committee’s work was attended by representatives of the Nice Union Member States, international governmental and non-governmental organisations. The session was opened with a welcome address by Kenichiro Natsume, Assistant Director General of WIPO. The Committee’s meeting was moderated by Laura Russo (Australia) who was elected Chair of this session and will serve a two-year term.

Ukraine was represented at the session by:

– Viktoriia Gryshchenko, Head of the Department for Information and Documentation Support;

– Halyna Drobna, Head of the Formal Examination of Trademark Applications Division No. 1, of the Department for Examination of Applications for Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications of the Department for Examination of Industrial Property Applications.

Halyna Drobna (left) and Victoriia Hryshchenko.

According to the revised agenda, the proposals submitted for consideration at the 35th session of the Committee of Experts were considered for five days:

• changes, additions and adjustments to existing wording;

• adding to the alphabetical lists of names of goods and services – both entirely new entries and synonyms;

• clarification of certain wording and transfer of specific goods or groups of goods to other classes.

Numerous proposals for changes to the headings of the classes of goods/services and to the explanatory notes accompanying them were also analysed and discussed.

A separate topic was the discussion of goods in Class 9 of the Nice Classification, sometimes referred to as a “mega-class” due to its extensive scope and broad coverage. Attempts were made to reduce this class by transferring certain groups of goods to other relevant classes but the opinions of industrial/intellectual property offices sometimes did not coincide, taking into account the interests of domestic applicants and the examination practices of each country so the reduction of the class was ultimately not as significant as expected.

All changes, additions and amendments adopted in accordance with the established procedure during the 35th session of the Committee of Experts will be reflected in the new, 13th edition of the Nice Classification – Nice Classification (13-2026), which will enter into force on January 1, 2026.

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