Treatment of materials.
Trademark applications and registrations in Class 40 over the past 15 years.
Class 40 covers treatment of materials, including custom manufacturing, recycling, and energy production. It is one of the smaller service classes, reflecting its focus on process-oriented industrial services rather than consumer-facing offerings. The class fundamentally concerns the transformation or processing of materials and objects — services where the provider alters the physical or chemical properties of something owned by the customer.
Key service categories include custom manufacturing and assembly to order, metalworking, woodworking, textile treatment (dyeing, finishing, and printing on fabrics), food and beverage processing, water treatment, waste treatment and recycling, and energy generation. Top filing firms include LZ Legal Services, Greenberg Traurig, and Taft Stettinius & Hollister, the latter reflecting the class's concentration in manufacturing-heavy regions. The growing importance of sustainability and circular economy practices has increased filing activity for recycling, upcycling, and waste-to-energy conversion services.
The defining classification principle in Class 40 is the distinction between manufacturing goods for sale (classified in the relevant goods class) and providing custom manufacturing or material treatment as a service to others. A company that produces and sells printed t-shirts files in Class 25 for the goods, but a company that provides custom printing services on customer-supplied garments files in Class 40. Similarly, a brewery selling its own beer files in Class 32, but contract brewing services belong in Class 40. This goods-versus-services distinction is the single most common source of classification errors in this class. 3D printing services, a rapidly growing subcategory, belong in Class 40 when offered as a service.
Strategic multi-class filings commonly pair Class 40 with Class 37 for installation services that follow custom manufacturing, Class 42 for the design and engineering services that precede manufacturing, and the appropriate goods class for any finished products sold under the same brand. Sustainability-focused brands should consider Class 40 for recycling and treatment services alongside Class 35 for environmental consulting and Class 42 for environmental monitoring technology.
Class 40 includes mainly services not included in other classes, rendered by the mechanical or chemical processing, transformation or production of objects or inorganic or organic substances, including custom manufacturing services. For the purposes of classification, the production or manufacturing of goods is considered a service only in cases where it is effected for the account of another person to their order and specification. If the production or manufacturing is not being performed to fulfil an order for goods which meet the customer's particular needs, requirements, or specifications, then it is generally ancillary to the maker's primary commercial activity or goods in trade. If the substance or object is marketed to third parties by the person who processed, transformed or produced it, then this would generally not be considered a service.
Editorial deep dives spanning Nice Class 40 and adjacent classes
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Explore 51,870 live trademarks in Material Treatment. Search by name, owner, or serial number — then filter by Class 40.
Search TrademarksClass 40 covers services that physically transform materials from one form to another: custom manufacturing, processing, treating, and fabricating. Examples include custom printing, metalworking, textile dyeing, food processing, and water purification. It is the service of transforming materials, not the sale of finished goods.
Class 37 covers construction, repair, and installation (working on existing things). Class 40 covers material treatment and custom manufacturing (creating new things from raw materials). Building a house is Class 37; custom-fabricating the steel beams for it is Class 40.
Yes. Custom 3D printing and additive manufacturing services, where a customer provides a design and the service produces the physical object, belong in Class 40.
Yes. Contract manufacturing, where a company produces goods to another company's specifications, belongs in Class 40. The key distinction is that the manufacturer is providing a processing service, not selling its own finished goods. A contract brewery or custom textile printer files in Class 40.
Yes. Recycling, waste treatment, and material recovery services all belong in Class 40 as material treatment services. Waste collection and hauling is a transportation service in Class 39. The recycling equipment itself belongs in Class 7. Sustainability brands often need all three classes.
Custom photo printing and processing services belong in Class 40. This includes photo book creation, canvas printing, and print-on-demand services. The printed photographs as goods may belong in Class 16. Online photo printing platforms also need Class 42 for the software.
Yes. Custom engraving, embroidery, monogramming, and personalization services belong in Class 40 as material treatment. The service transforms the customer's item by adding decoration or text. The embroidery thread belongs in Class 23, and engraving tools in Class 8.
Yes. Custom food processing, canning, smoking, and preserving services performed on behalf of another party belong in Class 40. A company that processes and packages food for its own sale files in the appropriate goods class (Class 29 or 30), not Class 40.
If you manufacture and sell your own custom products, file in the goods class for those products. If you provide manufacturing or treatment as a service to others using their materials or specifications, file in Class 40. A T-shirt company selling its own designs files in Class 25; a screen printing shop printing customer designs files in Class 40.