Nice Classes for Restaurants & Food Brands
Which trademark classes do restaurants, cafés and food brands need? A practical guide.
Founder & Developer of markencheck.ai
Where Do Restaurants and Food Brands Fit in the Nice Classification?
The Nice Classification separates strictly between services and goods, and gastronomy sits right on that dividing line. Serving food and drink to guests is a service and belongs to Class 43. This covers restaurants, cafés, bars, snack bars, catering and takeaway services. The food and drinks themselves, as soon as they are sold as products, are goods and fall into Classes 29 to 33. A restaurant that only serves guests needs Class 43. A brand that also sells packaged sauces, coffee beans or bottled drinks additionally needs the matching goods classes. This distinction between service and product is the single most important concept for every food trademark.
Typical Nice Classes for Restaurants & Food Brands
• Class 43 (Services): The core class for gastronomy. It covers restaurant services, café and bar services, catering, takeaway and the provision of food and drink in general. Every restaurant, café, food truck or catering brand should register here. • Class 29 (Goods): Foods of animal origin plus many processed products, e.g. meat, fish, dairy products, cheese, eggs, edible oils, jams, preserved fruits and vegetables, and snacks such as potato crisps. Relevant if you sell packaged products like burger patties, yoghurt or snack boxes. • Class 30 (Goods): Coffee, tea, cocoa, bread, pastries, confectionery, chocolate, ice cream, pizza, pasta, spices and sauces. The key class for cafés selling roasted coffee beans, bakeries selling packaged goods, or restaurants bottling their signature sauce. • Class 32 (Goods): Non-alcoholic beverages, mineral water, fruit juices, soft drinks, syrups, and also beer. A craft beer brand belongs here, not in Class 33. • Class 33 (Goods): Alcoholic beverages except beer: wine, spirits, liqueurs and pre-mixed cocktails. Relevant for wine bars with their own label or restaurants selling a house gin. • Class 35 (Services): Retail services for food and beverages (e.g. an online shop or farm store), advertising, and business management assistance in franchising. Essential if you plan to franchise your concept. • Class 39 (Services): Transport and delivery of goods. If you run your own delivery service, the delivery itself falls into Class 39. Important: Registering only Class 43 is often not enough. Think of Class 43 as the base, and add the goods classes for every product you actually plan to sell under the brand.
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Common Mistakes and Pitfalls
• Filing only Class 43 and selling products later: The classic gastronomy mistake. A restaurant registers its name in Class 43, becomes known for its sauce or spice blend, and starts selling it packaged. The packaged product is a good in Class 29 or 30, where the mark offers no protection. A competitor could register the identical name there. • Putting beer in the wrong class: Beer belongs in Class 32 together with non-alcoholic drinks, not in Class 33. Class 33 covers alcoholic beverages except beer, i.e. wine and spirits. Craft breweries regularly get this wrong. • Confusing serving coffee with selling coffee: Serving coffee in your café is a Class 43 service. Selling roasted beans or capsules under your brand is a Class 30 good. Running an online shop for those beans is a Class 35 retail service. A roastery with a café typically needs all three. • Forgetting Class 35 before franchising: Franchise expansion means offering business management assistance and know-how to franchisees, which is a Class 35 service. Without it, your franchise concept as such lacks trademark protection. • Misplacing the delivery service: If you deliver with your own drivers, the delivery service belongs in Class 39 (transport of goods). The dishes themselves remain in Classes 29/30, and the restaurant service in Class 43. • Choosing a purely descriptive name: Names that merely describe the offering (e.g. a generic dish plus a city name) are weakly distinctive and hard to register. Check distinctiveness before investing in signage and packaging.
Planning Tips for Restaurants & Food Brands
• Think three to five years ahead: Cover Class 43 plus the goods classes you realistically plan to use. In Germany and the EU, a trademark can be cancelled for goods and services not used within five years after registration, so avoid stockpiling classes you will never use. • Use the three-class fee window: The DPMA filing fee of €290 already includes up to three classes. A café planning to sell beans and bottled drinks can cover 43 + 30 + 32 without any surcharge. At the EUIPO, the basic fee of €850 covers one class, so weigh each additional class deliberately. • Split your specifications cleanly: Formulate services and goods separately. Example: • Class 43: “Restaurant and café services; catering; takeaway food and drink services.” • Class 30: “Roasted coffee; coffee-based beverages for retail sale; pastries; sauces [condiments].” • Class 32: “Non-alcoholic beverages; beer.” • Plan the franchise step early: If expansion via franchising is on your roadmap, include Class 35 in the initial filing. The list of goods and services cannot be extended afterwards; you would need a new application. • Use accepted terms: Build your specification from the DPMA’s harmonised classification database (eKDB) or TMclass to avoid formal objections.
Summary
Restaurants, cafés and food brands should build their trademark filing around Class 43 as the core service class. Add Class 29 and 30 for packaged foods, Class 32 for drinks and beer, Class 33 for wine and spirits, Class 35 for retail and franchising, and Class 39 for your own delivery service. The most expensive mistake is filing only Class 43 and losing the name for products later. Plan the class selection before filing, because the specification cannot be extended afterwards. You now know the relevant classes: start the trademark check for Class 43, 29 and 30 now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Nice class does a restaurant need?
The core is Class 43: it covers restaurant, café, bar and catering services as well as takeaway. Depending on your business model, add Class 29 or 30 for packaged food products, Class 32 for drinks and beer, Class 35 for retail and franchising, and Class 39 for your own delivery service.
Is Class 43 alone enough for a food brand?
Often not. Class 43 protects serving food and drink as a service, but not the products themselves. Packaged sauces or snacks fall into Classes 29 and 30, bottled drinks into Class 32, wine and spirits into Class 33. If you plan to sell products under the brand, file the goods classes from the start, because the specification cannot be extended afterwards.
Which classes does a café with its own coffee brand need?
Typically three: Class 43 for the café service, Class 30 for roasted coffee, beans and capsules as goods, and Class 35 if you run a shop or online store selling those products. At the DPMA, all three fit into the €290 filing fee, which includes up to three classes.
In which class do beer, wine and spirits belong?
Beer belongs in Class 32, together with non-alcoholic beverages, mineral water and fruit juices. Class 33 covers alcoholic beverages except beer: wine, sparkling wine, spirits and liqueurs. A craft beer brand therefore files in Class 32, a house gin or own wine label in Class 33, and a bar serving them in Class 43.
How much does filing a trademark in three classes cost?
At the DPMA, the electronic filing fee of €290 includes up to three classes according to the 2026 fee schedule. For an EU trademark at the EUIPO, the online basic fee is €850 for one class, €50 for the second and €150 for each additional class, so €1,050 for three classes.
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