NICE Class 16 covers paper and cardboard, printed matter, stationery and office requisites, artists' and drawing materials, paintbrushes, teaching materials, and paper/plastic wrapping and packaging. It is a broad, busy goods class. In Nepal you register a Class 16 trademark with the Department of Industry, and protection covers only the class you file in — with a common trap: a printed product is Class 16, but the printing service is a Class 40 service.
Key Takeaways
- Class 16 is the paper and stationery class — paper, printed matter, stationery, packaging and artists' materials.
- It includes books, notebooks, office supplies, paper bags, and household adhesives and paintbrushes.
- A printed product is Class 16, but commercial printing as a service is Class 40.
- It excludes photographic paper (Class 1), abrasive paper (Class 3), and cigarette paper (Class 34).
- Nepal's printing presses, publishers, stationery makers and paper-packaging firms file in Class 16.
- Register with the Department of Industry for a renewable 7-year term.
What does Trademark Class 16 cover?
Class 16 covers paper and cardboard; printed matter; bookbinding material; photographs; stationery and office requisites (except furniture); adhesives for stationery or household purposes; drawing materials and materials for artists; paintbrushes; instructional and teaching materials; plastic sheets, films and bags for wrapping and packaging; and printers' type and printing blocks. The unifying idea is paper-based goods, stationery, print and packaging — the physical products of paper, print and office life.
Full list of goods in Class 16
Below is the complete alphabetical list of Class 16 goods indications from the WIPO NICE Classification (13-2026 edition) — 369 entries in total. Use it to find the exact wording for your specification when you file in Nepal:
- Absorbent sheets of paper or plastic for foodstuff packaging
- Address plates for addressing machines
- Address stamps
- Addressing machines
- Adhesive tape dispensers [office requisites]
- Adhesive tapes for stationery or household purposes
- Adhesives [glues] for stationery or household purposes
- Advertisement boards of paper or cardboard
- Albums / scrapbooks
- Almanacs
- Animation cels
- Announcement cards [stationery]
- Apparatus for mounting photographs
- Aquarelles / watercolors [paintings] / watercolours [paintings]
- Architects' models
- Artists' watercolour saucers / artists' watercolor saucers
- Atlases
- Baggage claim check tags of paper
- Bags [envelopes, pouches] of paper or plastics, for packaging
- Baking paper
- Balls for ball-point pens
- Banknotes
- Banners of paper
- Barcode ribbons
- Bibs of paper
- Bibs, sleeved, of paper
- Binding strips [bookbinding]
- Biological samples for use in microscopy [teaching materials]
- Blackboards
- Blank punch cards for knitting machines
- Blotters
- Blueprints / plans
- Bookbinding apparatus and machines [office equipment]
- Bookbinding material
- Bookends
- Booklets
- Bookmarks / bookmarkers
- Books
- Bottle envelopes of paper or cardboard
- Bottle wrappers of paper or cardboard
- Boxes of paper or cardboard
- Bunting of paper
- Calendars
- Canvas for painting
- Carbon paper
- Cardboard tubes
- Cardboard*
- Cards* / charts
- Carrier bags of paper or plastic / shopping bags of paper or plastic
- Cases for stamps [seals]
- Catalogues
- Chalk for lithography
- Chalk holders
- Charcoal pencils
- Chart pointers, non-electronic
- Chromolithographs [chromos] / chromos
- Cigar bands
- Clipboards
- Clips for name badge holders [office requisites]
- Clips for offices / staples for offices
- Cloth for bookbinding / bookbinding cloth
- Coasters of paper
- Colouring books / coloring books
- Colouring pictures / coloring pictures
- Comic books
- Compasses for drawing
- Composing frames [printing]
- Composing sticks
- Conical paper bags
- Copying paper [stationery]
- Cords for bookbinding / bookbinding cords
- Correcting fluids [office requisites]
- Correcting ink [heliography]
- Correcting tapes [office requisites]
- Covers [stationery] / wrappers [stationery]
- Craft chenille stems
- Cream containers of paper
- Credit card imprinters, non-electric
- Dental tray covers of paper
- Desk mats
- Desktop cabinets for stationery [office requisites]
- Diagrams
- Document files [stationery]
- Document holders [stationery]
- Document laminators for office use
- Drawer liners of paper, perfumed or not
- Drawing boards
- Drawing instruments
- Drawing materials
- Drawing pads
- Drawing pens
- Drawing pins / thumbtacks
- Drawing rulers
- Duplicators
- Elastic bands for offices
- Electrocardiograph paper
- Electrotypes
- Embroidery designs [patterns]
- Engraving plates
- Engravings
- Envelope sealing machines for offices
- Envelopes [stationery]
- Erasers
- Erasing products
- Erasing shields
- Etching needles
- Etchings
- Fabrics for bookbinding
- Face towels of paper
- Figurines of papier mâché / statuettes of papier mâché
- Files [office requisites]
- Filter paper
- Filtering materials of paper
- Fingerstalls for office use
- Flags of paper
- Flip charts
- Floor decals
- Flower-pot covers of paper / covers of paper for flower pots
- Flyers
- Folders for papers / jackets for papers
- Food bags of paper or plastics
- Forms, printed
- Fountain pens
- Franking machines for office use / postage meters for office use
- French curves
- Galley racks [printing]
- Garbage bags of paper or of plastics
- Glitter for stationery purposes
- Glue for stationery or household purposes / pastes for stationery or household purposes
- Graining combs
- Graphic prints
- Graphic representations
- Graphic reproductions
- Greeting cards
- Gummed cloth for stationery purposes
- Gummed tape [stationery]
- Gums [adhesives] for stationery or household purposes
- Hand labelling appliances
- Hand-rests for painters
- Handkerchiefs of paper
- Handwriting specimens for copying
- Hat boxes of cardboard
- Hectographs
- Histological sections for teaching purposes
- Holders for cheque books / holders for checkbooks
- Holders for stamps [seals]
- House painters' rollers
- Humidity control sheets of paper or plastic for foodstuff packaging
- Index cards [stationery]
- Indexes
- Indian inks
- Ink sticks
- Ink stones [ink reservoirs]
- Ink*
- Inking pads
- Inking ribbons
- Inking sheets for document reproducing machines
- Inking sheets for duplicators
- Inkstands
- Inkwells
- Isinglass for stationery or household purposes
- Labels of paper or cardboard
- Ledgers [books]
- Letter trays
- Lithographic stones
- Lithographic works of art
- Lithographs
- Loose-leaf binders / ring binders
- Luminous paper
- Magazines [periodicals]
- Magnetic boards being office requisites
- Manifolds [stationery]
- Manuals [handbooks] / handbooks [manuals]
- Marking chalk
- Marking pens [stationery]
- Mats of paper for beer glasses
- Mezuzah cases
- Mezuzah parchments
- Mimeograph apparatus and machines
- Modelling clay
- Modelling materials
- Modelling paste
- Modelling wax, not for dental purposes
- Moisteners [office requisites]
- Moisteners for gummed surfaces [office requisites]
- Money clips
- Moulds for modelling clays [artists' materials] / molds for modelling clays [artists' materials]
- Musical greeting cards
- Name badge holders [office requisites]
- Name badges [office requisites]
- Newsletters
- Newspapers
- Nibs
- Nibs of gold
- Note books
- Numbering apparatus
- Numbers [type]
- Obliterating stamps
- Office perforators
- Office requisites, except furniture
- Oleographs
- Origami folding paper
- Packaging material made of starches
- Packing [cushioning, stuffing] materials of paper or cardboard
- Padding materials of paper or cardboard / stuffing of paper or cardboard
- Pads [stationery]
- Page holders
- Paint boxes for use in schools
- Paint trays
- Paintbrushes
- Painters' brushes
- Painters' easels
- Paintings [pictures], framed or unframed
- Palettes for painters
- Pamphlets
- Pantographs [drawing instruments]
- Paper bags for use in the sterilization of medical instruments / paper bags for use in the sterilisation of medical instruments
- Paper bows, other than haberdashery or hair decorations
- Paper clasps
- Paper coffee filters
- Paper creasers [office requisites]
- Paper cutters [office requisites]
- Paper for medical examination tables
- Paper for radiograms
- Paper for recording machines
- Paper knives [letter openers]
- Paper party decorations
- Paper ribbons, other than haberdashery or hair decorations
- Paper sheets [stationery]
- Paper shredders for office use
- Paper wipes for cleaning
- Paper-clips
- Paper*
- Papers for painting and calligraphy
- Paperweights
- Papier mâché
- Parchment paper
- Passport holders
- Pastels [crayons]
- Pen cases / boxes for pens
- Pen clips
- Pen wipers
- Pencil holders
- Pencil lead holders
- Pencil leads
- Pencil sharpeners, electric or non-electric
- Pencil sharpening machines, electric or non-electric
- Pencils*
- Penholders
- Pens [office requisites]
- Pens [writing implements] incorporating tips for operating touchscreen devices
- Perforated cards for Jacquard looms
- Periodicals
- Photo-engravings
- Photographs [printed]
- Pictures
- Placards of paper or cardboard
- Place mats of paper
- Plantable seed paper [stationery]
- Plastic bags for pet waste disposal
- Plastic blister packs for packaging / plastic bubble packs for packaging
- Plastic bubble film for wrapping
- Plastic cling film, extensible, for palletization
- Plastic film for wrapping
- Plastics for modelling
- Polymer modelling clay
- Portraits
- Postage stamps
- Postcards
- Posters
- Printed arithmetical tables / printed calculating tables
- Printed coupons
- Printed geographical maps
- Printed matter
- Printed publications
- Printed sheet music
- Printed timetables
- Printers' blankets, not of textile
- Printers' reglets
- Printing blocks
- Printing type
- Prints [engravings]
- Prospectuses
- Protective covers for books
- Punches [office requisites]
- Retractable reels for name badge holders [office requisites]
- Rice paper*
- Rollers for typewriters
- School supplies [stationery]
- Scrapers [erasers] for offices
- Sealing compounds for stationery purposes
- Sealing machines for offices
- Sealing stamps
- Sealing wafers
- Sealing wax
- Seals [stamps]
- Seaweed-based film for wrapping
- Self-adhesive tapes for stationery or household purposes
- Sewing patterns
- Sheets of reclaimed cellulose for wrapping
- Shields [paper seals]
- Signboards of paper or cardboard
- Slate pencils
- Song books
- Souvenir banknotes
- Spools for inking ribbons
- Spray chalk
- Square rulers for drawing
- Squares for drawing
- Stamp pads
- Stamp stands
- Stamps [seals]
- Stands for pens and pencils
- Stapling presses [office requisites]
- Starch paste [adhesive] for stationery or household purposes
- Stationery
- Steatite [tailor's chalk]
- Steel letters
- Steel pens
- Stencil cases
- Stencil plates
- Stencils
- Stencils [stationery]
- Stencils for decorating food and beverages
- Stickers [stationery]
- T-squares for drawing
- Table linen of paper
- Table napkins of paper
- Table runners of paper
- Tablecloths of paper
- Tablemats of paper
- Tags for index cards
- Tailors' chalk
- Teaching materials, except apparatus
- Terrestrial globes
- Tickets
- Tissue paper
- Tissues of paper for removing make-up
- Toilet paper / hygienic paper
- Towels of paper
- Tracing cloth
- Tracing needles for drawing purposes
- Tracing paper
- Tracing patterns
- Trading cards, other than for games
- Transfers [decalcomanias] / decalcomanias
- Transparencies [stationery]
- Trays for sorting and counting money
- Type [numerals and letters] / letters [type]
- Typewriter keys
- Typewriter ribbons
- Typewriters, electric or non-electric
- Vignetting apparatus
- Viscose sheets for wrapping
- Washi
- Waxed paper
- Wood pulp board [stationery]
- Wood pulp paper
- Wrapping paper / packing paper
- Wristbands for the retention of writing instruments
- Writing board erasers
- Writing brushes
- Writing cases [stationery]
- Writing chalk
- Writing instruments
- Writing materials
- Writing or drawing books
- Writing paper
- Writing slates
What Class 16 does not include
Several "paper" goods are classified by function elsewhere, and print-as-a-service is a separate class. Note these exclusions:
| Product / service | Correct class |
|---|---|
| Commercial printing services | Class 40 |
| Photographic paper | Class 1 |
| Abrasive (sand) paper | Class 3 |
| Cigarette paper | Class 34 |
| Artists' hand tools — spatulas, sculptors' chisels | Class 8 |
| Teaching apparatus and toy models | Classes 9, 28 |
The rule of thumb: a paper, print or stationery product is Class 16, but printing as a service is Class 40, and paper defined by a special use — photographic, abrasive, cigarette — is classified by that use.
Who files in Class 16 in Nepal?
Class 16 is one of the busier classes in Nepal. It is filed by printing presses and publishers — books, newspapers and magazines — stationery and notebook manufacturers, paper-bag and packaging makers riding the shift away from plastic, greeting-card and calendar producers, and artists'-materials suppliers. For a publisher or stationery brand, the name on the cover or the notebook is the asset a trademark protects. Confirm your class with the NICE Class Finder.
How to register a trademark in Class 16
Search the register for earlier paper and stationery marks, confirm Class 16 fits (and that a printing service isn't really Class 40), prepare your mark and specification, and file with the Department of Industry. It examines, publishes for the 90-day opposition window, and registers for a renewable 7-year term. See how to register a trademark in Nepal and how to search first.
Do you need more than one class?
Often. A print business might file in Class 16 for its printed products and add Class 40 for the printing service itself, or Class 35 for retail. Because Nepal files one class per application with per-class fees, map your range first. See choosing the right class, and the neighbouring Class 15 (Musical Instruments) and Class 17 (Rubber & Plastics).
A Nepal example
Take a Kathmandu printing press and publisher. Its books, notebooks and printed packaging are Class 16, where its brand is registered. But the commercial printing service it offers other businesses is Class 40, and if it runs a branded stationery retail shop, that is Class 35. One print brand can span Class 16 for the products, Class 40 for the printing service, and Class 35 for retail — filing only in Class 16 leaves the service and shop unprotected. The product-versus-service split is the one print businesses most often get wrong.
Getting Class 16 right: common mistakes
The defining Class 16 mistake is the product-versus-service line. A printed book or packaging item is a Class 16 good, but offering printing to customers is a Class 40 service. Print businesses frequently file only Class 16 and leave their core service unprotected. A second common error is filing special-use paper in Class 16: photographic paper is Class 1, abrasive paper Class 3, and cigarette paper Class 34.
A third pitfall involves adhesives and brushes: household and stationery adhesives and paintbrushes are Class 16, but industrial adhesives are Class 1 and artists' hand tools like spatulas are Class 8. Specify the actual goods you make rather than claiming the whole heading, so your Class 16 registration is precise, and add Class 40 or Class 35 where your business genuinely extends into services or retail.
Why precise Class 16 filing matters
Paper, print and stationery is a crowded, name-driven market, so precision protects you. Naming your real goods — "notebooks", "printed publications", "paper packaging" — makes the application easier to register and clearer to enforce, and keeps the boundary clean against Class 40 printing services and special-use papers. Because Nepal is first-to-file, the date you lodge secures your priority. For a publisher or stationery brand, an early, precisely scoped Class 16 filing — plus Class 40 where you print for others — is what protects the name on your products.
In short
Class 16 is the paper, print and stationery class — paper, books, notebooks, office supplies, packaging and artists' materials. The line to remember is product versus service: a printed product is Class 16, but offering printing to customers is a Class 40 service, and special-use papers (photographic, abrasive, cigarette) sit in their own classes. Get that right, name your real goods, and file early to protect the name on your products.
Class 16 filing checklist
- Confirm you're protecting a product (Class 16), not a printing service (Class 40).
- Check the exclusions — Class 1, 3, 8, 34 or 40.
- Search the register for similar paper and stationery marks.
- Draft a precise goods specification.
- Add Class 40 for printing services or Class 35 for retail where relevant.
- File with the Department of Industry and track to registration.
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Register your Class 16 trademark
Protect your print, paper or stationery brand. Find your class with the NICE Class Finder, screen with the Conflict Checker, then register your trademark with our team. Talk to an IP expert if your business spans printed products, printing services and retail.
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