Design Search Codes Explained: How the USPTO Classifies Visual Trademarks
When you file a word mark like NIKE or APPLE, the USPTO can search for conflicts using text -- comparing letter sequences, phonetic similarity, and meaning.
By Howard KatzenbergEducational resources for brand owners
Updated October 12, 2026
When you file a word mark like NIKE or APPLE, the USPTO can search for conflicts using text -- comparing letter sequences, phonetic similarity, and meaning. But what happens when the trademark is a logo, a symbol, or a stylized design? You cannot run a text search for the Target bullseye or the Starbucks siren. This is where design search codes come in.
Design search codes are the USPTO's system for cataloging the significant visual elements of design trademarks on record. They translate images into searchable numbers, turning a logo containing an eagle perched on a shield into a structured set of codes that an examiner -- or anyone conducting a clearance search -- can use to find other trademarks containing similar visual elements.
Understanding how these codes work gives you a significant advantage. It helps you predict what the examiner will search when reviewing your logo application, run your own pre-filing clearance searches for design marks, and monitor for new applications that could conflict with your brand. This guide breaks down the entire system: how the codes are structured, what the 30 categories cover, how the USPTO assigns them and examiners search them, and how to use them in your own trademark strategy.
What Are Design Search Codes?
Design search codes are six-digit numerical codes that classify the figurative (visual) elements of trademarks. Each code represents a specific type of visual element -- an eagle, a five-pointed star, a shaded circle, a human hand, a musical note. When a trademark contains design elements, the USPTO assigns one or more codes from its Design Search Code Manual to describe what appears in the mark.
The system is based on the Vienna Classification, an international standard established in 1973 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for classifying the figurative elements of marks. The USPTO's Design Search Code Manual is a customized American adaptation of the Vienna system. It shares the same top-level structure and six-digit format but includes US-specific subcategories tailored to the types of marks filed with the USPTO. The US manual contains approximately 1,400 individual codes; the current (tenth) edition of the Vienna Classification has 844 main sections, plus 937 optional auxiliary sections.
As of February 2026, the system spans 30 categories -- the original 29 inherited from the Vienna Classification plus a brand-new Category 30 for sound and motion marks.
The XX.YY.ZZ Structure
Every design search code follows a three-level hierarchy expressed as six digits in the format XX.YY.ZZ:
| Level | Digits | What It Represents | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | XX (first pair) | Broad subject group | 03 = Animals |
| Division | YY (second pair) | Subdivision within the category | 03.15 = Birds and bats |
| Section | ZZ (third pair) | Specific visual element | 03.15.01 = Eagles |
The system works like a filing cabinet. The category is the drawer, the division is the folder, and the section is the specific document. Here are a few examples that illustrate how the hierarchy breaks down:
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01.01.03 -- Category 01 (Celestial Bodies, Natural Phenomena, Geographical Maps) > Division 01 (Stars, Comets) > Section 03 (Stars with five points). This code covers trademarks that include a single five-pointed star as a design element; marks with more than one five-pointed star are coded 01.01.13.
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03.21.07 -- Category 03 (Animals) > Division 21 (Amphibians and reptiles) > Section 07 (Turtles, tortoises). If your logo features a turtle, this is the code the USPTO will assign and examiners will search.
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26.01.21 -- Category 26 (Geometrical Figures and Solids) > Division 01 (Circles) > Section 21 (Circles totally or partially shaded). This single code appears on more than 280,000 trademarks in the USPTO database -- making it one of the most commonly assigned codes in the entire system.
The granularity varies by category. Some categories have dozens of divisions with highly specific sections. Others are broader. The key principle is that each code is specific enough to group visually similar elements together so that an examiner searching for "marks with eagles" does not have to manually review millions of images.
The 30 Categories: A Complete Overview
The Design Search Code Manual organizes all visual elements into 30 top-level categories. The first 29 follow the international Vienna Classification structure. Category 30, added in February 2026, is a USPTO-specific addition for sound and motion marks.
| Category | Subject |
|---|---|
| 01 | Celestial Bodies, Natural Phenomena, Geographical Maps |
| 02 | Human Beings |
| 03 | Animals |
| 04 | Supernatural/Mythological Beings, Plants/Objects/Geometric Figures Representing People or Animals |
| 05 | Plants |
| 06 | Scenery (Landscapes) |
| 07 | Dwellings, Buildings, Monuments, Stadiums, Fountains, Structural Works and Building Materials |
| 08 | Foodstuffs |
| 09 | Textiles, Clothing, Sewing Accessories, Headwear, Footwear |
| 10 | Tobacco, Smokers' Materials, Fans, Toilet Articles, Medical Devices and Apparatus |
| 11 | Household Utensils |
| 12 | Furniture, Sanitary Fixtures |
| 13 | Lighting, Cooking, Heating, Cooling or Refrigeration Equipment |
| 14 | Hardware, Tools and Ladders, Non-Motorized Agricultural Implements, Keys and Locks |
| 15 | Machines and Parts Thereof (Industrial, Agricultural, Home, Office), Electrical Equipment |
| 16 | Telecommunications, Sound Recording/Reproduction Equipment, Photography, Cinematography, Optics |
| 17 | Horological Instruments, Jewelry, Weights and Measures |
| 18 | Transport, Equipment for Animals, Traffic Signs |
| 19 | Luggage, Cases, Boxes, Containers and Vessels |
| 20 | Writing Materials, Office Supplies, Stationery, Books |
| 21 | Games, Toys, Sporting Goods, Playground Equipment |
| 22 | Musical Instruments and Their Accessories, Bells, Sculptures |
| 23 | Arms, Ammunition, Armor |
| 24 | Heraldry, Flags, Crowns, Crosses, Arrows, Insignia, Symbolic Designs |
| 25 | Ornamentation, Frameworks, Surfaces and Backgrounds with Ornaments |
| 26 | Geometrical Figures and Solids |
| 27 | Forms of Writing, Numerals |
| 28 | Inscriptions in Various Characters (non-Latin scripts such as Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew) |
| 29 | Miscellaneous (color marks; small design elements serving as punctuation or parts of letters) |
| 30 | Sound and Motion Marks (NEW -- February 2026) |
Some categories see far more use than others. Category 26 (Geometrical Figures) dominates because circles, squares, triangles, and other geometric shapes appear in an enormous number of logos. Category 03 (Animals) and Category 02 (Human Beings) are also heavily used. At the other end of the spectrum, categories like 10 (Tobacco, Smokers' Materials) and 13 (Lighting, Cooking, Heating Equipment) are relatively specialized.
How Design Codes Are Assigned
Design search codes are not chosen by the applicant. When you file a trademark application that includes a design element -- a logo or a composite mark combining words and graphics -- staff in the USPTO's Pre-Examination section review the visual elements and assign the appropriate codes before the application reaches an examining attorney. (Plain lettering is not coded, and stylized lettering is coded only in notable circumstances.)
The process works as follows:
- Applicant files the trademark. The application includes the mark image (called the "drawing") along with a description of the mark.
- USPTO coders analyze the visual elements. They identify the significant figurative elements -- an animal, a geometric shape, a building, a human figure, and so on.
- Codes are assigned from the Design Search Code Manual. Each identified visual element receives one or more codes. A logo with a lion holding a shield on a banner could receive codes from Category 03 (Animals -- lion) and Category 24 (Heraldry -- shield and banner).
- Applicant can review and suggest revisions. After codes are assigned, the applicant (or their attorney) can review them and request corrections if they believe a code was assigned incorrectly or a relevant code was missed.
- Codes are recorded in the USPTO database. The final set of codes becomes part of the mark's searchable record, though codes do not appear on the registration certificate.
The number of codes per mark varies widely. (For a deeper look at how all 13 DuPont factors — including visual similarity — interact, see our DuPont guide.) A mark in plain lettering receives no design code at all, and stylized lettering is coded only in notable circumstances. An intricate, detailed logo can receive many codes.
How Examiners Use Design Codes in Clearance Searches
The assignment of codes is only half the story. The primary purpose of design search codes is to enable searching. When a new trademark application arrives with a design element, here is how the examining attorney uses the codes to check for conflicts:
- Identify the design elements in the applied-for mark.
- Determine the appropriate design search codes for those elements.
- Search the USPTO database for existing marks carrying the same or related codes, filtered by the relevant goods-and-services classes.
- Evaluate likelihood of confusion between the applied-for mark and any marks found in the search.
- Issue an Office Action if the examiner finds existing marks that are confusingly similar to the applicant's design.
This is why design codes matter so much for applicants. When you understand the system, you can anticipate much of what an examiner will search. If your logo features a single five-pointed star (code 01.01.03), you can expect the examiner to search other marks with that code for goods and services related to yours. That knowledge lets you evaluate the competitive landscape before you invest in an application.
For a broader look at the factors examiners weigh when evaluating design mark conflicts, see our guide on the DuPont Factors: Understanding the Likelihood of Confusion Test.
The Most Common and Rarest Codes
The distribution of design search codes across the USPTO's 14 million trademark records is far from even. A handful of codes dominate the database while others are vanishingly rare.
Most Frequently Assigned Codes
| Code | Description | Trademarks |
|---|---|---|
| 26.01.21 | Circles that are totally or partially shaded | 280,356 |
| 26.01.XX | Circles (various subcodes) | Very high |
| 26.XX.XX | Geometrical figures (various subcodes) | Very high |
The dominance of geometric figures makes sense. Circles, squares, and other basic shapes are foundational design elements that appear in logos across every industry. Code 26.01.21 alone -- shaded circles -- appears on more than 280,000 trademarks. If your logo includes a circle, it shares a design code with a very large pool of existing marks.
One of the Rarest Codes
At the opposite extreme, code 11.05.07 (Electric can openers) has been assigned to only four trademarks in the entire database. That level of specificity illustrates just how granular the system can be -- and why it contains approximately 1,400 individual codes.
These frequency differences have practical implications for clearance searching. A code shared by hundreds of thousands of marks requires more filtering (by Nice class, by word elements, by overall commercial impression) to narrow results to meaningful conflicts. A rare code might surface only a handful of potentially conflicting marks, making the analysis faster and more straightforward.
Category 30: Sound and Motion Marks (New -- February 2026)
On February 10, 2026, the USPTO announced the addition of Category 30 to the Design Search Code Manual. This is a significant development because sound and motion marks were previously searchable only by keyword in the mark description field -- an imprecise method that made comprehensive clearance searches for these mark types difficult.
Category 30 contains eight codes in two divisions -- one for motion and seven for sounds:
| Code | Description | Example Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 30.01.01 | Motion | Growing, fading, or flickering visual effects |
| 30.02.01 | Musical sounds | Notes, melodies, orchestras, rhythmic drumming (NBC three-note chime, 20th Century Fox fanfare) |
| 30.02.02 | Human speech or singing | Words, syllables, and singing that can be written out |
| 30.02.03 | Human non-speech sounds | Whistling, clapping, breathing, crowd noise, yells |
| 30.02.04 | Animal sounds | Animal noises and imitations of them (MGM lion's roar) |
| 30.02.05 | Natural sounds | Weather, wind, water, fire, explosions |
| 30.02.06 | Machine/object/mechanical/electrical sounds | Sounds of objects and machinery, including many chimes and electronic chirps |
| 30.02.07 | Other sounds | Sounds not coded elsewhere (may be assigned by default when a sound mark is first filed) |
The addition matters because sonic branding -- the practice of creating distinctive audio signatures for brands -- has become a mainstream marketing strategy. Before Category 30, an examiner trying to find all registered sound marks involving animal vocalizations had to rely on keyword searches through mark descriptions, which varied in wording and completeness. Now, every mark involving an animal sound can be coded as 30.02.04, making systematic searching possible for the first time.
Category 30 is also notable because it has no equivalent in the international Vienna Classification.
For the full story on Category 30 -- including the policy background, the USPTO's announcement, and what it means for sound and motion mark owners -- see our dedicated coverage: The USPTO Just Made Sound and Motion Marks Searchable by Design Code.
USPTO Design Codes vs. the Vienna Classification
Because the USPTO's system is adapted from the Vienna Classification, the two are closely related but not identical. If you are filing trademarks internationally, understanding the differences matters.
| Feature | USPTO Design Search Codes | Vienna Classification (WIPO) |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Based on Vienna Classification | Established 1973, Vienna Agreement |
| Structure | XX.YY.ZZ (six digits, three levels) | XX.YY.ZZ (identical format) |
| Top-level categories | 30 (29 original + Category 30) | 29 categories |
| Total codes | ~1,400 | 844 main sections (plus 937 optional auxiliary sections) |
| Subcategories | US-specific adaptations | International standard |
| Used by | USPTO (Trademark Search, TSDR) | WIPO and many other national offices |
| Category 30 (sound/motion) | Added February 2026 | No equivalent yet |
The structural similarity means that if you understand one system, you largely understand the other. The differences are in the details -- specific subcategories and section codes that may exist in one system but not the other. For international filings, you will encounter the Vienna Classification in WIPO's Global Brand Database and in the trademark offices of many other countries.
Why Design Codes Matter for Trademark Applicants
Design search codes are not just an internal USPTO housekeeping tool. They have direct, practical implications for anyone filing or monitoring trademarks.
Pre-Filing Clearance
Before you invest in a trademark application for a logo or design mark, you should search the USPTO database for existing marks with similar visual elements. Design codes are the primary tool for this. If your proposed logo features an eagle (03.15.01) and a five-pointed star (01.01.03), searching those codes in your relevant goods-and-services classes will reveal much of the pool of marks the examiner is likely to review. Finding potential conflicts early saves you the cost and time of an application that will likely be refused.
For a step-by-step walkthrough of conducting a thorough trademark search -- including design code searching -- see our guide on How to Conduct a Trademark Search Like a Pro.
Understanding Examiner Behavior
When you know which design codes apply to your mark, you can predict the examiner's search strategy. If your logo is a stylized letter inside a circle, you can expect the examiner to search circle codes (26.01.XX) together with the letter itself; if the letter is formed from shapes or objects, Category 27 codes (27.03.XX) apply too. This lets you evaluate the strength of your position before filing.
Monitoring for Conflicts
Design codes are essential for monitoring new trademark applications that could conflict with your existing design mark. Text-based monitoring catches word mark conflicts but misses design-only marks. A competitor who files a logo with a similar visual concept -- say, a similar style of eagle or a similar geometric arrangement -- will only be caught by monitoring that tracks design elements, not just words.
For a comparison of trademark monitoring approaches, see our guide on Best Trademark Search and Monitoring Tools: 2026 Comparison.
Responding to Office Actions
If you receive a likelihood-of-confusion refusal based on a cited design mark, understanding the design codes involved helps you craft a stronger response. You can argue that the overall commercial impressions differ despite shared codes. Pointing out that the marks carry different codes carries little weight on its own, because the USPTO treats design codes as administrative search aids that do not affect the scope of a registration.
Practical Tips for Design Code Searches
Whether you are conducting a pre-filing clearance search or monitoring your competitive landscape, these strategies will help you use design codes effectively:
1. Search multiple codes for complex logos. A logo with a lion holding a shield could be coded under Category 03 (Animals) and Category 24 (Heraldry, where shields are coded in 24.01). Search all relevant codes, not just the most obvious one.
2. Search related codes within the same division. If your mark contains a five-pointed star (01.01.03), also search for six-pointed stars (01.01.04) and stars generally (01.01.XX). Examiners consider overall commercial impression, not just exact code matches.
3. Use the cross-references in the Design Search Code Manual. The manual includes notes directing you to related categories. An image of a person riding a horse might be coded under both Category 02 (Human Beings) and Category 03 (Animals), and the manual's cross-references help you identify these connections.
4. Combine design code searches with word mark searches. Design codes cover visual elements, but many trademarks combine design and word elements. A comprehensive clearance search uses both approaches.
5. Review your assigned codes after filing. Once the USPTO assigns codes to your mark, review them for accuracy. If a code is missing or incorrect, you can request a revision. Getting the codes right matters because it affects how your own mark will appear in future searches.
6. Filter by Nice class to manage volume. The most common codes appear on hundreds of thousands of marks. Filtering your search by the relevant goods-and-services classes dramatically narrows the results to the marks that actually pose a conflict risk.
7. Search stylized text as words, too. Lettering in a distinctive font usually receives no design code -- the USPTO codes stylized lettering only in notable circumstances. Category 27 covers letters arranged to form a picture (and pictures forming letters), and Category 28 covers inscriptions in non-Latin characters. Search the wording of a stylized mark as text as well as by any design codes.
Design Codes in Practice: Clearance and Monitoring
Tools like GleanMark index design search codes across all 14 million USPTO trademark records, making them searchable in a dedicated design search alongside image similarity and plain-English design descriptions. This means you can run design code-based clearance searches before filing and set up design watches that send alerts, usually within a day or two, when new filings look similar to a reference design — catching visual conflicts that purely text-based monitoring would miss.
Key Takeaways
Design search codes are the backbone of how the USPTO organizes and searches visual trademarks. The system translates images into structured, searchable numbers using a three-level hierarchy (Category > Division > Section) that covers everything from celestial bodies to geometric shapes to the newly added sound and motion marks.
For trademark applicants, the practical value is clear: understanding design codes lets you search the same way examiners search, anticipate potential conflicts before filing, and monitor for new applications that threaten your brand. The system is not perfect -- some codes cover hundreds of thousands of marks while others cover just four -- but it remains the USPTO's primary tool for searching visual trademarks.
Whether you are filing your first logo trademark or managing a portfolio of design marks, taking the time to learn the design code system is one of the most productive investments you can make in your trademark strategy.