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The Zest

How to trademark a wellness brand that sells products and services

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There's no single "wellness" class. You file in the class for each kind of thing you sell under the name, and a brand that sells products and services usually spans several: Class 3 for skincare, Class 4 for candles, Class 5 for supplements, Class 41 for classes and workshops, and Class 44 for spa and wellness services. The USPTO charges at least $350 per class, so the real work is matching classes to what you actually sell or plan to sell.

Why wellness brands end up in so many classes

The USPTO sorts goods and services using the Nice Classification, an international system with 45 classes. Classes 1 through 34 are goods. Classes 35 through 45 are services. Wellness doesn't sit in one place because it isn't one kind of thing. A bottle of body oil, a candle, a capsule and a breathwork session are four different categories as far as the classification is concerned. I wrote about how the system works in the article on trademark classes.

Here are the class headings that matter most for a wellness brand, in the classification's own words:

  • Class 3: "Non-medicated cosmetics and toiletry preparations," along with perfumery and essential oils.
  • Class 4: among other things, "candles and wicks for lighting."
  • Class 5: pharmaceuticals and medical preparations, and "dietary supplements for human beings and animals."
  • Class 41: "Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities." The class list includes "conducting fitness classes" and "arranging and conducting of workshops [training]."
  • Class 44: "Medical services," and "hygienic and beauty care for human beings or animals." Its list includes health spa services, massage, aromatherapy services, alternative medicine services, and dietary and nutritional advice.

The lines that surprise people

Here is the part that trips up wellness founders. The same word can land in two classes depending on whether you're selling a product or performing a service. Essential oils are named in the Class 3 heading. Aromatherapy services are on the Class 44 list. If you sell the oils and also run aromatherapy sessions, that's two classes.

The Class 3 heading is also limited to non-medicated cosmetics, while the Class 5 heading covers pharmaceuticals and medical preparations. Whether a product is medicated matters for where it goes.

Exercise is the other split. The Class 44 explanatory note specifically excludes "health clubs for physical exercise" and sends them to Class 41. So a studio that teaches movement classes and also offers massage is looking at Class 41 for one and Class 44 for the other.

You describe what you sell, not your vibe

Picking the class is only half of it. Inside each class, you have to say what the goods or services are. The TMEP, the manual USPTO examining attorneys follow, says an identification must be "specific, definite, clear, accurate, and concise." Words like "including," "such as" and "products" are "almost always unacceptable." So "wellness products" won't get through. "Scented candles" and "dietary supplements" will move a lot faster.

This matters because the wording you choose is the wording you're stuck with. I go deeper on that in the article on goods and services descriptions.

One application can cover several classes

You don't need a separate application for every class. The USPTO allows a multiple-class application, but it treats each class almost like its own filing inside the larger one. Under 37 C.F.R. § 2.86, you have to:

  1. Identify the goods or services in each class.
  2. Pay the filing fee for each class.
  3. If you're already using the name, give dates of use and a specimen for each class. If you aren't yet, state a bona fide intent to use the name for each class.

The current fees, per the USPTO fee page:

  • $350 per class as the base application fee.
  • $200 more per class if you type your own description instead of choosing from the USPTO's ID Manual.
  • $100 more per class if the application is missing certain required information.

So a five-class filing starts at $1,750 in government fees before any surcharges. I broke the fee schedule down in the article on 2026 USPTO fees.

Some classes now, some classes later

Most wellness brands don't launch everything at once. Maybe the skincare is selling today and the supplement line is a year out. The Lanham Act lets you file based on use for what's already on the market and based on a "bona fide intention" to use for what's coming. You can't claim both bases for the identical goods, though.

The intent-to-use classes need a Statement of Use once you actually launch, at $150 per class. You get six months after the notice of allowance, plus extensions at $125 per class, up to a statutory cap of 24 months of further extensions after the first one. And here's the catch in a multi-class filing: you generally can't file the allegation of use until you're using the name in all the classes, unless you also ask the USPTO to divide the application. Division splits the classes that are ready into their own application, which keeps the original filing date.

What this means for your brand

Start with a list of everything you sell or plan to sell under the name in the next two or three years. Sort it into products and services. Then match each item to its class and write a plain-language description of it.

Two things to keep in mind as you do that. First, don't add classes for things you have no real plan to sell. The intent-to-use basis requires a bona fide intent, "under circumstances showing the good faith" of the applicant. Second, the class number doesn't wall off your rights. When the USPTO decides whether two names conflict, it looks at whether the goods or services are related "in some manner," and it recognizes that goods and services can be related to each other. A skincare registration and a spa services registration aren't strangers just because they sit in different classes.

If you want to talk through how your own product and service mix sorts into classes, you can see how the search and filing packages work on the services page, and the FAQs page answers most of what comes up before a first call.

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(No legal advice is given on the discovery call. It's a chance to tell me what you're building and hear how the process works.)

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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