Trademark Class 3 in India: Cosmetics, Skincare & Cleaning Products

“Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.” – Walter Landor.  In India’s booming beauty and personal-care market, trademark class 3 ensures that the brands you build are legally protected. You can craft high-quality products, but your brand is what builds recognition, trust, and loyalty.

In a crowded market of skincare, cosmetics, and personal-care products, protecting your brand with trademark registration is essential. Securing your name, logo, or identity does more than prevent imitation; it establishes credibility. When customers recognize your brand, they feel confident choosing your products over competitors.

Iconic brands like Lakmé, Himalaya, and Dove rely on Class 3 trademarks to safeguard their reputation and prevent market confusion. Trademark class 3 empowers you to protect your creations, stand out in a competitive industry, and grow your brand with confidence. 

This blog covers Trademark Class 3 in India, the products it protects, and how to register your brand to secure legal rights and stand out.

Overview of Trademark Class 3 in India

Trademark Class 3 protects products in the beauty, personal care, hygiene, and household cleaning sectors. Unlike service trademarks, it safeguards the physical products you create and the brand identity associated with them.

This class falls under the Nice Classification, an international system managed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The system organizes goods and services into specific classes of trademarks, ensuring registration in India aligns with global standards. Class 3 ensures that your cosmetics, toiletries, perfumes, skincare, cleaning products, and related items are clearly defined, legally protected, and shielded from imitation.

Trademark Class 3 helps you:

• Prevent competitors or counterfeiters from using similar names, logos, or labels.
  
• Ensure others cannot register identical or confusingly similar marks in Class 3 or related categories.
  
• Provide a solid foundation to take action against imitation, counterfeiting, or misuse.
  
• Enable expansion of your product range and entry into new markets under the same trademark.
  
• Build a recognizable brand image, inspiring customer confidence and loyalty.
  
• Establish your products as safe, reliable, and high-quality, boosting overall market reputation.
  
• Offer opportunities for brand licensing or franchising, creating additional revenue streams.

By understanding how class 3 in trademark works, cosmetic and personal-care brands can safeguard their identity and build a strong foundation for long-term growth.

Who Should File Under Trademark Class 3?

If your business creates beauty, personal care, or hygiene products, Class 3 is your brand’s best defense. The following brands should register under this class to safeguard their creations, prevent imitators, and ensure their products stand out in the market.

1. Cosmetics and Makeup Brands: Any company selling makeup or cosmetic products should register under Class 3 of the trademark.

2. Skincare and Haircare Companies: Brands that offer lotions, creams, sunscreens, shampoos, conditioners, or hair dyes must secure protection.

3. Perfumery and Fragrance Businesses: Firms producing perfumes, essential oils, or aromatic products should register under the trademark class for perfume.

4. Personal Hygiene and Toiletries Manufacturers: Businesses dealing with soaps, deodorants, bath products, and other toiletries should secure rights in Class 3.

5. Oral Hygiene Brands: Companies making toothpastes, mouthwashes, denture care, or breath fresheners are included in this class.

6. Cleaning and Household Product Makers: Manufacturers of household cleaners, polishes, and laundry products can register in Class 3.

7. Pet Care Companies: Brands producing grooming or cosmetic products for animals should also register in this class.

In short, registering under the Class 3 trademark protects your brand while securing exclusive rights to your name, logo, and products.

Goods Included in Trademark Class 3

Trademark Class 3 covers a wide range of products used for beauty, personal care, hygiene, and household cleaning. This class ensures that your brand has legal protection for cosmetics, toiletries, perfumes, and related products. 

Below, we provide a clear overview of the main types of goods included in this category. 

1. Toiletries and Personal Care Products

These products include everyday items used for personal hygiene and grooming. They form the foundation of the trademark class for beauty products.

• Soaps (toilet soaps, medicated soaps, antiperspirant soaps, almond soaps)
  
• Bath preparations, bath salts (non-medical), and cosmetic bath products
  
• Cotton wool, cotton swabs, and tissues for cosmetic use
  
• False eyelashes and nails, nail care preparations, nail varnish/polish
  
• Cosmetic creams, greases, balms (non-medical), massage gels (non-medical)

Popular brands in India, such as Himalaya, Dove, Fiama, and Pears, use this trademark class to secure their brand identity.

2. Cosmetics and Makeup

This category includes products that enhance appearance, style, and personal grooming. These are core items in trademark Class 3.

• Lipsticks, lip glosses, and cosmetic pencils
  
• Makeup powders, foundations, and other makeup preparations
  
• Eyebrow and eyelash cosmetics, mascara
  
• Cosmetic kits, cosmetic preparations for slimming, decorative transfers, nail art stickers

Brands like Maybelline, Lakmé, MAC, and Sugar Cosmetics rely on the trademark class for cosmetic products to protect their makeup lines and secure their brand identity in the market.

3. Skincare and Haircare

This category includes skincare and haircare products that protect, nourish, and beautify skin and hair. 

• Skin care: lotions, creams, sunscreens, beauty masks, cleansing milks, petroleum jelly
  
• Hair care: shampoos, hair lotions, hair dyes, bleaching and coloring preparations, hair sprays, pomades, beard and moustache wax
  
• Depilatory and shaving products: shaving soaps, shaving stones, alum stones, depilatory wax, after-shave lotions

Well-known brands like Mamaearth, Plum, L’Oréal, and Schwarzkopf use trademark classes for hair oil to safeguard their skin and haircare products, ensuring their brand and product lines are fully protected.

4. Perfumery and Fragrances

Products that add scent and appeal fall under the Class 3 trademark.

• Perfumes, eau de cologne, scented water, toilet water
  
• Essential oils and aromatic extracts: rose, lavender, almond, jasmine, mint, terpenes
  
• Bases and extracts for perfumery, incense, potpourris, sachets

Brands such as Engage, Fogg, Forest Essentials, and Yardley rely on this trademark class to protect their fragrances.

5. Oral Hygiene Products

Oral care products that help in maintaining hygiene and freshness are included in class 3 trademark.

• Dentifrices, toothpastes, mouthwashes (non-medical), dental bleaching gels, denture polishes, and preparations for cleaning dentures
  
• Breath freshening strips and sprays

Popular brands like Colgate, Sensodyne, Close-Up, and Dabur Red use the class 3 trademark to secure their oral care products.

6. Cleaning and Household Products

These products, used for cleaning, polishing, and maintaining homes, are part of the broader trademark coverage under Class 3.

• Cleaning preparations, floor wax, polish, stain removers, degreasers, non-slipping liquids, paint, and varnish removers
  
• Laundry products: bleaching salts, laundry bleach, fabric softeners, starches, soap for brightening textiles
  
• Vehicle and leather cleaning and polishing preparations, abrasives, sandpaper, and polishing stones

Brands like Vim, Dettol, Godrej, and Kiwi use trademark Class 3 to protect household and cleaning products.

7. Pet Care Products

Products for animals, such as grooming and hygiene items, are also included in the trademark class for beauty products.

• Deodorants and shampoos for animals
  
• Cosmetic products for animal use

Brands such as Petsutra, Dogspot, and Beaphar use trademark class 3 for beauty products to protect pet care goods.

Class 3 registration shields your brand across cosmetics, personal care, household, and pet products, turning your ideas into protected, market-ready assets.

Items Not Covered Under Trademark Class 3

While Class 3  trademark covers a wide range of cosmetics, personal-care, and cleaning products, some items do not fall under this class and belong to other trademark classes.

These include:

• Medicinal or pharmaceutical products, such as medicated creams, ointments, or therapeutic gels (Class 5)
  
• Dietary supplements, vitamins, and health tonics (Class 5)
  
• Devices or tools for applying cosmetics, like electric facial brushes or hair straighteners (Class 8 or 9)
  
• Perfumed candles, incense sticks for ritual purposes, and vehicle air fresheners (Class 4)
  
• Household cleaning machines, vacuum cleaners, or laundry appliances (Class 7 or 11)
  
• Essential oils for food flavoring or beverages (Class 30 or 32)
  
• Fabric applicators or cosmetic brushes sold separately without cosmetic content (Class 21)

As soon as products like soaps, perfumes, or shampoos become medicinal, ingestible, or equipment-based, they move to a different class. This is why brands like Himalaya, Dabur, and L’Oréal often file their trademarks across multiple classes.

Why Knowing This Matters

Filing in the wrong class can:

• Delay registration if the trademark office requests correction or reclassification
  
• Limit legal protection, leaving certain products exposed
  
• Create disputes if someone else registers a similar mark in the correct class

Understanding what Class 3 in trademarks doesn’t cover helps your brand secure proper protection from the start, avoiding extra costs, delays, and legal issues.

How to Register a Trademark in Class 3?

A Class 3 trademark ensures exclusive rights for your cosmetics, soaps, perfumes, and other personal-care products. Here is the step-by-step process to secure your trademark and avoid legal issues:

Step 1: Conduct a Trademark Search

Before applying, check if your desired mark is available in the cosmetic trademark class. This helps avoid conflicts with existing trademarks. You can use online trademark databases in India, like the IP India Public Search tool, for a quick search.

Tip: Use RegisterKaro’s free trademark search tool to check if your desired name or logo is available.

Step 2: File Your Trademark Application

Once your trademark is clear, get your application ready.

• Choose the type of trademark (wordmark, logo, or symbol) you want to register.
  
• List the goods you want to protect under Class 3.
  
• File the application with IP India (or the relevant trademark office).
  
• Submit all necessary documents and pay the fees.

Step 3: Examination by the Trademark Officer

The trademark officer will review your application to check its correctness, legal compliance, and descriptiveness. They may:

• Accept it
  
• Reject it
  
• Issue an examination report with objections or conditions

You must respond to trademark objections within the given time, or your application may be abandoned.

Step 4: Advertisement in the Trademark Journal

If your application is accepted, it will be published in the Trademark Journal for a 4-month opposition period. This gives third parties a chance to oppose your registration within four months. If no opposition is filed, or it is resolved in your favor, your mark moves to registration.

Step 5: Registration and Renewal

Once registered, you will receive a certificate of registration from the Trademark Registrar. You can then use the ® symbol to show your exclusive rights. 

As your trademark remains valid for 10 years, remember to renew your trademark every decade to maintain protection. 

Ready to secure your brand’s identity? Register your Class 3 trademark with RegisterKaro. Contact us today!

Trademark Classes Similar to Class 3

Many personal care and cosmetics business owners assume that Class 3 alone will protect their entire brand. In reality, products related to your cosmetics, soaps, perfumes, and skincare line may fall under other trademark classes. Understanding these differences ensures comprehensive protection and prevents legal conflicts.

Trademark Class	Services/Products Covered	Comparison with Class 3
Class 5	Pharmaceuticals, medical and veterinary products, dietary supplements	Class 3 covers beauty and personal-care items; Class 5 covers medicinal or therapeutic products. File under both if products have cosmetic and medicinal uses.
Class 8	Hand tools, manicure and pedicure instruments	Class 3 covers creams and lotions; Class 8 protects physical tools used for personal care.
Class 18	Bags, wallets, and cases made of leather or synthetic materials	Class 3 protects cosmetic products; Class 18 protects containers or cases for these products.
Class 21	Household or kitchen containers, brushes, sponges	Protects applicators, brushes, and other tools for personal care; Class 3 covers the actual cosmetic products.
Class 35	Business management, marketing, retail, or online store services	Class 3 covers products themselves; Class 35 for trademark protects the sale, distribution, or promotion of these products.
Class 44	Beauty salons, spa, skincare treatments, wellness services	Class 3 protects products; Class 44 protects services using or applying those products.

Tip: If your brand spans multiple areas (e.g., skincare products + tools + spa services), consider filing under all relevant classes to ensure full protection for both products and services.

Final Thoughts

Registering under Trademark Class 3 is crucial for safeguarding your cosmetics, skincare, perfumes, soaps, hair oils, and other personal-care products. The right trademark class ensures your brand identity stays protected, prevents imitation, and gives you full legal rights over your beauty and household products.

Don’t leave your brand vulnerable. Trademark your products with RegisterKaro and secure your cosmetics, soaps, perfumes, and personal-care items today. This ensures your brand stays protected from imitation and misuse. 

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What types of products fall under Trademark Class 3?

Trademark Class 3 in India includes non-medicated cosmetics, toiletries, perfumes, and cleaning products. This covers soaps, shampoos, conditioners, face creams, lipsticks, mascara, deodorants, nail polish, essential oils, household cleaners, and even pet grooming products. Essentially, it protects beauty, personal care, hygiene, and cleaning items. Registering under Class 3 ensures that competitors cannot use confusingly similar marks on these products, securing your brand identity legally.

2. Are medicated creams and therapeutic lotions included in Class 3?

No, products with medicinal or therapeutic claims, such as acne creams, ointments, or antiseptic lotions, fall outside Class 3. These are usually classified under Class 5, which covers pharmaceutical and veterinary products. Class 3 is strictly for non-medicated cosmetics, personal care, toiletries, and cleaning products. Registering a therapeutic product under Class 3 could lead to rejection or legal disputes, so correct classification is critical for proper brand protection.

3. If I register a hair oil under Class 3, can I later launch shampoos and conditioners under the same mark?

Yes, as long as the new products fall under Class 3. Hair oils, shampoos, conditioners, and other non-medicated hair-care or cosmetic products are covered. Registration under Class 3 protects all similar beauty and personal-care items in the same class. This allows businesses to expand their product lines under the same brand name, legally preventing competitors from using confusingly similar trademarks on related goods.

4. What items are explicitly excluded from Class 3?

Class 3 does not include industrial chemicals, medicinal products, dietary supplements, medical devices, household appliances, or hardware tools. For example, electric facial brushes, cleaning machines, medicinal ointments, and vitamins belong to other classes such as Class 1, 5, 7, 8, or 11. Misclassification can cause rejection, delays, or legal complications. Understanding these exclusions ensures that trademarks are filed correctly, protecting products and brand reputation from legal challenges.

5. Does Class 3 cover household cleaning products too?

Yes, Class 3 includes cleaning, polishing, scouring, and laundry preparations intended for household use. This covers detergents, soaps, floor wax, fabric softeners, polish, stain removers, and other domestic cleaning agents. Industrial or commercial cleaning products fall into other classes. Registering household cleaning items under Class 3 ensures legal protection, prevents competitors from using similar marks on these goods, and allows businesses to build a strong brand identity in the consumer market.

6. What if my product is a “cosmetic + therapeutic” hybrid?

If a cosmetic product claims therapeutic or medicinal benefits, it may fall under Class 5 instead of Class 3. Class 3 only protects non-medicated cosmetics, toiletries, and cleaning products. Misclassification can lead to objections, delays, or rejection by the trademark office. Brands must carefully assess product claims before filing to ensure proper classification and secure legal protection for their trademark across all applicable product lines.

7. Can pet-care shampoos or animal grooming items be registered under Class 3?

Yes, non-medicated grooming, hygiene, and cosmetic products for animals are included under Class 3. This includes pet shampoos, deodorants, conditioners, and grooming lotions. Registering these products protects your brand from imitation or misuse in the same category. Class 3 allows businesses producing cosmetic or cleaning items for pets to secure exclusive rights over their trademarks, ensuring brand recognition and legal protection in both human and animal personal-care markets.

8. If I only sell room fragrances or essential oils (non-medicinal), do they come under Class 3?

Yes, non-medicated perfumes, essential oils, room sprays, scented waters, and aromatic extracts fall under Class 3. This includes both personal-use fragrances and home fragrance products. Class 3 protects such items from imitation or confusion with other brands. Essential oils for food or medical purposes do not fall under Class 3, so correct classification is important to maintain exclusive rights over cosmetic and fragrance-related products.

9. Does trademark registration under Class 3 protect me across online marketplaces and retail stores?

Yes, a registered Class 3 trademark gives exclusive rights to your brand name, logo, or label for all covered products, regardless of whether they are sold online, offline, or in retail stores. This legal protection prevents competitors or counterfeiters from using similar marks on cosmetic, personal-care, or cleaning products. It ensures that your brand maintains a consistent identity and credibility across every sales channel, including e-commerce platforms.

10. Why is Class 3 considered a “crowded” class, and what risk does that pose?

Class 3 is highly popular because it covers cosmetics, toiletries, fragrances, and household cleaning products, attracting many businesses. High competition increases the likelihood of similar trademarks, objections during examination, oppositions in the Trademark Journal, or delays in registration. Brands must create distinctive, unique marks to minimize rejection risks. Proper research, a strong trademark search, and filing through a professional service can secure legal protection and reduce potential conflicts.