Trademark Class 31: Fresh Produce, Seeds and Live Animals
Raw and unprocessed agricultural, aquacultural, horticultural and forestry products; live animals; fresh fruits and vegetables; seeds; and foodstuffs and beverages for animals.
What Class 31 covers in practice.
Class 31 covers mainly land and sea products that have not been prepared for eating, together with live animals, living plants and food for animals. It includes unprocessed grains and rice, fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh herbs and mushrooms, seeds and bulbs for planting, natural plants and flowers, unsawn timber, live fish and poultry, fertilised eggs for hatching, malt for brewing and distilling, and animal fodder, pet food and litter for animals.
The dividing line is processing. Washing or waxing fresh produce does not change the class, but once rice is milled or grain is made into flour or flakes the goods move to Class 30, and once fruit, vegetables or nuts are cut, frozen, roasted or otherwise prepared for eating they move to Class 29. Medicated feed and animal supplements are Class 5, and tobacco, even raw leaf, is Class 34. Indian filers here include seed companies, cattle-feed and poultry-feed makers, fruit and vegetable exporters, plant nurseries, pet food brands, aquaculture hatcheries and sericulture units.
Not in Class 31
Goods and services often confused with this class, and the class they actually belong to.
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Table eggs Class 29 ↗
Only fertilised eggs for hatching are Class 31; Nice lists eggs for eating in Class 29.
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Milled rice, atta and oat flakes Class 30 ↗
Cereals prepared for human consumption are Class 30; Class 31 keeps only unprocessed cereals and unprocessed rice.
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Roasted nuts, raisins and cut vegetables Class 29 ↗
Nice lists prepared nuts, raisins and cut vegetables in Class 29; Class 31 is limited to fresh and unprocessed produce.
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Medicated cattle feed and animal supplements Class 5 ↗
The Class 31 note excludes dietary supplements for animals and medicated animal feed, which are Class 5.
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Fertilisers, manure and compost Class 1 ↗
The Class 1 heading names compost, manures and fertilizers, even when they are sold by seed and agri-input businesses.
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Raw tobacco leaf Class 34 ↗
The Class 31 note excludes tobacco, so even unmanufactured leaf goes to Class 34.
What actually falls under Class 31.
The official heading is a legal category, not a shopping list — here are specific products and services from Class 31 people actually search for.
Animal feed / cattle feed
Copra (dried coconut kernel)
Desiccated coconut is Class 29.
Dried flowers for decoration
Dried edible flowers are Class 29.
Fertilised eggs for hatching
Eggs for eating are Class 29.
Fresh flowers / plants
Fresh fruits and vegetables (unprocessed)
Fresh herbs (unprocessed)
Fresh mushrooms and mushroom spawn
Preserved mushrooms are Class 29.
Litter and sand for pets
Live animals / livestock
Live fish and crustaceans
Fish and prawns that are not live are Class 29.
Malt for brewing and distilling
Malt for human consumption and malt extract for food are Class 30.
Pet food
Raw grains (unprocessed)
Seeds (agricultural)
Silkworms and silkworm eggs
Sugarcane and cane bagasse
Unprocessed nuts and coconuts
Prepared or flavoured nuts are Class 29.
Unsawn timber and raw bark
Sawn timber and semi-worked wood are Class 19.
Which class is my product or service in?
Straight answers for the specific items people search for under Class 31.
Rice that has been husked, milled or polished for eating is Class 30, where Nice lists 'rice' and 'instant rice'. Class 31 covers only 'unprocessed rice', such as paddy, and rice seed for sowing. A rice miller or exporter selling packed basmati therefore files in Class 30, while a business trading in paddy or seed would use Class 31.
It depends on processing. Raisins are listed in Class 29, as are prepared and flavoured nuts, which covers nuts that are roasted, salted or otherwise prepared for eating. Raw, unprocessed nuts sit in Class 31, where Nice lists 'unprocessed nuts' and 'almonds [fruits]'. Because a dry-fruit range usually mixes both, many dry-fruit brands file in Classes 29 and 31 together.
Washing or waxing does not change the class: the Class 31 note keeps fresh fruit and vegetables there even after washing or waxing. Cutting, freezing or drying does. Nice lists cut fruit, cut vegetables, frozen fruits and dried vegetables in Class 29. A farm-fresh brand selling whole produce files in Class 31 and adds Class 29 for ready-cut packs, frozen peas or dehydrated vegetables.
No. Fertilisers, manure and compost are Class 1, and pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides are Class 5. Medicated animal feed and dietary supplements for animals are also Class 5, as the Class 31 note states. Class 31 covers seeds, plants, ordinary fodder and animal feed, so an agri-input company may need Classes 1, 5 and 31 together.
Both can apply. The plants, seedlings, bulbs and seeds a nursery sells are goods in Class 31. Plant nursery services, gardening, landscape gardening and horticulture are services in Class 44. A nursery that grows and sells its own plants and also offers landscaping would usually cover Class 31 for the goods and Class 44 for the services.
Raw and unprocessed agricultural, aquacultural, horticultural and forestry products; live animals; fresh fruits and vegetables; seeds; and foodstuffs and beverages for animals.
Common examples include: Animal feed / cattle feed, Copra (dried coconut kernel), Dried flowers for decoration, Fertilised eggs for hatching, Fresh flowers / plants, Fresh fruits and vegetables (unprocessed), Fresh herbs (unprocessed), Fresh mushrooms and mushroom spawn.
Fresh fruits and vegetables (unprocessed) falls under Trademark Class 31 — Fresh Produce, Seeds and Live Animals.
Seeds (agricultural) falls under Trademark Class 31 — Fresh Produce, Seeds and Live Animals.
Animal feed / cattle feed falls under Trademark Class 31 — Fresh Produce, Seeds and Live Animals.
Live animals / livestock falls under Trademark Class 31 — Fresh Produce, Seeds and Live Animals.
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