Comprehensive Guide to Trademark Class 10 in India (Medical Devices)

More formally, trademarks protect identifiers of goods and services, including brand names and logos, by means of legal protection. India adopts the internationally‐recognized Nice Classification which provides 45 classes of goods and services under the provisions of Trade Marks Act, 1999. Filing in the correct class is important: it makes your mark enforceable and prevents others from using similar marks for similar goods. Class 10 in India is focused on medical and healthcare equipment. Specifically, Class 10 covers “surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments, artificial limbs, eyes and teeth; orthopaedic articles; suture material”. This effectively means that any medical device, surgical instrument or device-related trademark should be filed in Class 10. Business owners, attorneys and the public will find this article useful in explaining what Class 10 covers, key considerations related to the registration of a Class 10 trademark in India (with examples and pitfalls).

India also follows the Nice Classification, with all goods and services divided into 45 classes. Classes1–34 are for physical goods; Classes35–45 for services. You need to register your trademark under the class(es) of goods/services that your brand will protect. This prevents confusion regarding what your mark covers, and overlaps. Such as if you manufacture medical implants or surgical tools then you need to put these products under Class 10 in your trademark application. If you register in the class wrong, protection may be useless by covering products you did not mean to.

A trade mark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one trader from those of others and may be registered under India’s Trade Marks Act 1999, giving you exclusive rights on your brand for the specified goods/services. So in the same class, nobody else would be able to use a confusingly similar mark on those goods. On the other hand, if you file in the incorrect class, a competitor can use a similar name with no infringement in the proper class. You survive audit & public searches: classification informs examiners and customers what kinds of goods your mark connects with, so they can avoid confusion.

Class 10: Surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments; artificial limbs, eyes and teeth; orthopaedic articles; suture materials. To put it another way, the majority of physical medical devices intended for humans (or animals) are included. This encompasses things used within building, facilities, laboratories, surgeries, and animal hospitals. Examples of Class 10 goods include scalpels, forceps and sutures.

According to trademark attorneys and official sources, Class 10 is “Surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments. The reminder also mentions expressly corresponding goods such as special medical furniture (operating tables / hospital beds / examination chairs), hygienic rubber products and supportive bandages. Simply put, Class 10 is usually the right one if your business manufactures or sells anything that is a non-pharmaceutical medical device — from ultrasound machines, prosthetic limbs, syringes, or diagnostic kits.

Many are life-saving or life-critical, so brand trust is paramount. A well-registered trademark in Class 10 will inform clients from which devices are reliable. The wrong class or a vague description can take away your protection (See “Common Mistakes” below.)

Class 10 covers a range of surgical and medical products. Although the official are very general, here are some categories along with specific goods under Class 10:

Surgical Instruments & Tools: Scalpel, Forceps, Clamp, Surgical Scissors, Syringe, Needle. These are the surgical instruments / medical tools used in surgical procedures. Take scalpels and surgical scissors as an example–they are trademarked medical tools.

Diagnostic Tools: Stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors, electrocardiogram (ECG) machines, glucose meters, thermometers, endoscopes This category encompasses any device that can measure or assess a health condition.

Dental Device: Dental instruments, dental drill, dental mirror, dental braces, orthodontic instrument, ultrasonic dental cleaner, pacifier (nipple) Instruments used by dentists or in dental care

Animal products: Syringes, obstetric instruments; Veterinary diagnostics: veterinary syringes, diagnostic tools for cows; Surgical kits: Surgical tools for pets. Veterinary medical devices

Orthopaedic & Prosthetic Devices: Artificial (Man-Made) limbs (arms, legs), joints, braces, splints, pelvis girdles and hip belts. Cushions and spare components for bones as well as joints.

Hydraulic Lite: Medical furniture: over bed table, hospital bed, patient examination chair, dental chair, hoists. Clinical furniture

First-Aid and Wound-Care Supplies: Adhesive bandages, surgical dressing, sterile scissors, staples for closing a wound. Emergency, First Aid & Dressing Items

Sanitation & Personal Protective Gear: Surgical gloves, surgical masks, protective gowns, hypodermic syringes (disposable & reusable), tubing. Medical personal protective equipment.

Image: Scalpels and surgical instruments are registered as goods in Class 10. Within each of those categories are several specific products. For example, Class 10 specifically mention tools that “used for medical purpose, like special air cushions, heating pads for therapy and animal stethoscopes as well. In practice, any “apparatus and instruments” (as the Act says) for health care falls into Class 10.

However, Class 10 as per the IndiaFilings trademark guide, “includes mainly medical apparatus, instruments and articles,” besides special furniture for medical purpose, hygienic rubber articles and supportive bandages. It names in particular (among other things) abdominal bandages, acupuncture needles, ambulance cots, anaesthetic masks, artificial limbs and eyes, surgical needles, diagnostic apparatus and hundreds more. The list is exhaustive as per the Nice Classification list, (This is a exhaustive list, Full listings are available on the WIPO or IP India sites, respectively for businesses. In short, when in doubt, if it is a physical medical device or piece of equipment, it probably belongs in Class 10.

Class 10: Dental implants (drills, mirrors) and orthodontic braces. Class 10 covers a huge range, from things like bed pans and basins for patients, to high tech machines like CT scanners and pacemakers. Class 10 covers medical disposables (e.g. a pair of surgical scissors, an implantable lens) and even some children´s items such as baby pacifiers (teats).

Your trademark application should specify what Class 10 goods are all covered. A meticulously created list (sometimes with the help of a lawyer) protects everything from A to Z when it comes to medical supplies that your brand may cover.

One can imagine that medical products will often touch on several classes, therefore, understanding related classes is necessary:

Class 5 (Pharmaceuticals): This includes medicine, vitamins, herbal and medicinal preparations. While pharamaceuticals (tablets, syrups, injections, vaccines etc.) is Class 5, not Class 10. So devices are Class 10 and consumable drugs are Class 5. This means, for example, that if a brand manufactures both wound dressings (Class 10) and antiseptic creams (Class 5), it would have to file in both classes separately. The word — is the product stick or a consumer-oriented product? Class 10: If is an instrument or device (a cardiopulmonary pacemaker, a syringe) Take a pill or ointment class 5. And medicated cosmetics can also be classified as Class 3 if they fall under Class 3 (makeup / cleaning).

Class 9 ( Electronics /Software): Choose Class 9 if your medical product contains substantial electrical components, or if it is (mostly) a software medical product (eg: a medical app, or diagnostic software). Class 9, for example, could be a Bluetooth heart monitor, or hospital imaging software. Purely electronic devices or downloadable medical apps are typically Class 9, also regardless of use in healthcare. (Note: if the product is a physical instrument e.g., those with electronics, it may still go under Class 10 eventually as devices such as ECG machines are usually filed here.)

Class 44 (Medical Services): This class is for medical services, not goods. Class 44 is for services such as operation of a clinic, telemedicine consultations, surgery, or veterinary treatment. Class 10, on the other hand, is about the equipment used in those services. Example: name of a hospital (as a brand for its service) would be Class 44 while name of MRI machine brand would be Class 10 So, Class 10 is “the actual stuff in the operating room” and Class 44 is “the thing you do with it.” This means the Trademark Registry has clarified that “physical medical instruments and apparatus… come under Class 10 as only provision of medical services comes under Class 44”.

Other Nearby Classes (can have minor overlaps) E.g. Class 3 encompasses unmedicated cosmetics and skincare(whereas a brand of medicated face masks used in a clinic would be Class 5, a plain beauty mask would be Class 3) Class 28 (gym/massage equipment not for use in a clinical environment, so a medical massager is Class 10 but your everyday run of the mill massager chair Class 28). Class 1 are pure chemicals (for example drug ingredients).

To Summarize: do not confound goods and services; medical products are covered by Class 10 (devices, instruments, apparatus), whilst medical services by Class 44, and medicinal consumables by Class 5. So, when constructing your trademark application, describe, represent, and separate each category. For example, if your business comprises several categories (e.g., a hospital also sells medical kits), you will need more than one class.

However, Class 10 does shield a number of well-known medical brands. Here are some examples of the types of products in this category:

BPL Medical Technologies (India) —Shinco in ECG Machines, Patient Monitors and medical imaging systems

Polymed (Poly Medicure Ltd.) – providers of medical consumables including syringes, catheters, IV sets, masks (India)

Hindustan Syringes And Medical Devices (HMD) (India) – Sterile syringes, surgical blades, blood collection tube.

Siemens Healthineers (Worldwide) – German Manufacturer known for MRI/CT Scanners, Ultrasound Machines, Lab Diagnostics Instruments

GE Healthcare (global) – USA-based: Ventilators, ultrasound & X-ray machines, patient monitors

Philips Healthcare (World-wide) – Division of Dutch electronics organization that deals with diagnostic imaging equipment, respiratory treatment devices and personal health and fitness devices

Contec Medical Systems (worldwide) — Chinese manufacturer of inexpensive diagnostic and patient-monitoring devices for clinics and hospitals.

Smith Nephew (global) — UK based well-known wound care products (ex: alginate based dressings) and surgical instrument and joint implants products.

The respective companies register Class 10 for their device names and logos, thereby covering it from enjoying exclusivity. For example, BPL Medical owns trademarks on its monitors and imaging brands. In Class 10, Siemens Healthineers and GE Healthcare secure protections on their device trademarks in India Class 10 registrations extend even to everyday patient consumables such as syringes and bandages manufactured by Polymed and HMD. Internationally, 3M Healthcare® (not pictured) and Medtronic® also utilize Class 10 for surgical instruments and medical device lines. In such cases also registration of the trademark in class 10 shall be specific for the known medical equipment, thus preventing the competitor company to sell the medical equipment under the same brand.

Choosing the appropriate trademark class is extremely important. For medical & health-related products, ask the following:

Guidelines: Is my product — a physical medical device or instrument? If the answer is YES (say, a surgical tool, diagnostic machine, prosthetic limb), then the answer is usually Class 10. If the product is a physical medical device like in procedures or diagnostics… likely you need to register in the Class 10, — advises trademark specialists.

Does my product has active component of pharmaceutical ingredients? If your product is something like a drug, supplement, vaccine or another consumable medicine then it should go into Class 5 (not Class 10). Class 5 is topical medicine, such as a wound-healing gel, and Class 10 is a medical laser for surgical use.

Does it have a gadget or electronic aspect?, or is it a health-tech device or app? If item is mainly software or electronic device performed in health monitoring like it can be mobile health application or smart fitness wearable, think Class 9. So maybe a Bluetooth stethoscope app would require Class 9, but the actual stethoscope would be Class 10.

Am I offering services? If your brand has characteristics dealing with medical or wellness services, (clinics, telemedicine, cosmetic surgery) then you belong in Class 44. Do not confuse a hospital (service) brand with a medical device (goods) brand.

Check the Indian TM registry database to conduct a search for similar products that may have already been filed.

• To cross check, use the official lists of “Classification of Goods and Services” prepared by IP India or WIPO.
• If you are applying for Class 10, keep your goods description medical specific and in clear terms. Avoid listing unrelated products.
• If your business does operate in different categories, file in each appropriate class initially. Another example is a medical-device firm that sells vitamins, so would file in both Class 10 and Class 5.

When in doubt, ask an IP professional. The specifics of trademark classification can be a bit of a minefield, and classifying a trademark incorrectly can mean a loss in registered protection.

Filing a Class 10 trademark in India follows the same process as for any class; however, your application should focus on your medical products. Here are the typical steps:

Trademark Search: Start with searching in the Indian Trademark Registry database for similar or identical marks in Class 10. This also helps to avoid the conflicts and rejections as there are many major players in Class 10.

Complete and Submit Application (Form TM-A): A fresh application shall be filed under TM-A (the new trademark register form). Fill out the information about you or your business and also attach your trademark (a word mark, a logo, or both). It is important that you specify all relevant Class 10 goods covered by your mark in the goods/services. For example, “Class 10: Surgical instruments; diagnostic and medical apparatus; dental apparatus; bandages; syringes; orthopedic appliances, etc.” The greater the detail, the greater the protection. To register more marks or to cover more classes, you have to file an additional form; previously one application covered one mark in one class only.

Government Fee: Select the appropriate fee as per the nature of your entity. ₹9,000 (online) per class for individual, startup or small enterprise. For other businesses, it’s ₹9,000(online) per class. (Online e-filing is cheaper than the mail-in papers; physical filings are a tad more expensive) One of the components of the TM-A application is the payment which is due during the filing process.

Examination: Once settled, the Registrar checks your application for legal requirements. This means that you have to make sure that your mark is sufficiently distinct (not generic or overly descriptive) and not identical or confusingly similar to any other existing marks. The examiner also checks whether class and specification are in order or not. If there are concerns (e.g if Sections 9 or 11 of the Act is violated); an Examination Report (or an office action) will be issued by the Registrar.

Answer Objections (if any) — In the event of objections, you have one month (which can be extended in one-month intervals) to answer. It can be that a good response will need legal arguments or evidence (e.g. swipes of use, market surveys). If the objections were overcome, the mark might then be allowed (with possible amendments) by the Registrar.

Journal Publication: If permitted (immediately or following challenges), your mark is published inside the Trademarks Journal. Oppositions by third parties can be filed during a 4-month period from the date of publication. (The process continues unless its passos quote).

Opposition (if any) — If there is an opposition to your mark, a legal proceeding (counter-statements, evidence, hearings, etc. using Form TM-O) follows. This can be complicated, and so usually both sides will hire an attorney. Where a notice of opposition is filed, the Registrar will call on the opponent to pursue the opposition, and if the opponent does not do so (or you win), the Registrar will register the mark.

Registration & Registration Certificate Upon there are no successful oppositions, the Registrar shall register your trademark in Class 10 and issue therewith a Registration Certificate. By this time, you own that mark in India only for the stated medical devices.

Validity and Renewal: A registered trademark is valid for 10 years in India. It is needed to be renewed every 10 years in order to keep the rights. The renewal is easy (filling in TM-R and paying the fee).

How long does this all take: This is anywhere from 6 months to 2 years or longer if there are objections or oppositions. If all goes well the registration happens between 6–12 months, but this occasionally takes a little longer. Since trademark rights are granted as of the registration date, it can be wise to apply early, even prior to your product launch.

Filing a trademark application can be tricky. Here are some pitfalls specific to Class 10 to watch out for:

• Misclassifying Your Goods: A very common error is listing products in the wrong class. For example, putting medicines or supplements in Class 10 is incorrect (they belong in Class 5). Conversely, don’t omit relevant Class 10 items thinking they might be Class 5 or another class. If your mark covers surgical tools and medicated cream, you need both Class 10 and Class 5 entries. Always double-check the official descriptions.
• Vague or Overbroad Descriptions: Avoid generic terms like “medical devices” alone. Be as specific as possible. For example, instead of “medical instruments”, specify types: “surgical scalpels, diagnostic stethoscopes” etc. Broad terms might invite examiner queries or limit enforcement.
• Descriptive or Generic Marks: Selecting a mark that is simply descriptive of the product can lead to rejection under Section 9 of the Act. For instance, branding a line of surgical gloves as “SurgiGlove” might be considered descriptive, whereas a coined name or logo would be stronger. If in doubt, get legal advice on mark distinctiveness.
• Skipping a Proper Search: Filing without checking existing marks is risky. If a confusingly similar Class 10 trademark already exists, your application may be opposed or rejected. Even small differences (like adding “surgical” vs not) can matter.
• Not Filing in Multiple Classes (if needed): Some businesses mistakenly file only in Class 10 when they actually have products in, say, Class 5 or Class 9 as well. Remember: one trademark application can cover multiple classes (each for an extra fee). If you have diverse offerings, include all relevant classes at the outset, or file separate applications.
• Ignoring Formal Requirements: Not providing the required forms, fees, or proper proof of identity can cause delays or rejection. Make sure to include a power of attorney (if using an agent) and proof of address/identity as required.

By avoiding these mistakes and preparing thoroughly, you improve your chances of a smooth registration under Class 10.

Class 10 trademarks have the same legal protections as any other class. If someone uses a confusingly similar mark for medical devices without permission, the rights-holder can sue for trademark infringement under Sections 29 and 30 of the Act. Remedies include civil relief such as injunctions (stop sales), monetary damages (compensation for lost sales), and seizure/destruction of the infringing products. Indian courts have broad powers to enforce trademark rights in the medical field.

Importantly, trademark infringement can have criminal consequences in India as well. Under Section 103 of the Trade Marks Act, a person found guilty of willfully infringing a registered trademark (e.g. selling counterfeit branded medical devices) can face imprisonment of 6 months to 3 years and a fine up to ₹2,00,000. These penalties underscore the seriousness of infringing healthcare trademarks.

Beyond legal penalties, infringing medical trademarks can harm patient safety. For example, counterfeit surgical tools or copycat medical gadgets might put lives at risk. Courts view such cases gravely. Therefore, it’s crucial for manufacturers to enforce their Class 10 trademarks aggressively. If your trademark is infringed, you should consult an attorney immediately to obtain an injunction and seek damages.

In sum, registering your mark and policing it are vital. Trademark law (civil and criminal) protects Class 10 brand owners, ensuring you can stop unauthorized use of your name on surgical and medical products.

Navigating Class 10 trademark registration can be complex. The right description, correct class, and proper responses to official actions are all critical. Many businesses, especially start-ups and clinics, benefit from consulting a trademark attorney or a specialized IP service. Professionals can conduct thorough trademark searches, advise on classification (avoiding errors between Class 5, 9, 10, 44, etc.), and draft robust specifications. They also assist in responding to objections or oppositions if they arise.

For busy business owners and even experienced lawyers in other fields, using a trademark service ensures you don’t overlook formalities. Experts know the latest Indian Trademark Rules and common examiner concerns. They can help you assemble the correct documents, pay the right fees, and track deadlines. In short, legal guidance reduces the risk of rejection or expensive re-filing. Since a Class 10 trademark might be a critical business asset (your brand on expensive medical equipment), spending on expert help is often worthwhile.

Trademark protection is crucial in the medical industry. If you sell or manufacture any medical, dental, surgical, or veterinary equipment in India, consider securing your brand under Class 10 now. Even if your product is still in development, you can file based on bona fide intention to use.

Take action: Conduct a quick trademark search to see if your desired name/logo is available for Class 10 goods. If it’s clear, proceed to file the application promptly. If not, or if you’re unsure about classes and descriptions, consult a qualified trademark attorney or service provider for guidance. These professionals can help you draft your application, choose the correct classes, and handle the filing and follow-up.

Protecting your trademark early prevents future legal headaches. A registered Class 10 mark strengthens your brand’s credibility in hospitals and clinics and gives you legal muscle against infringers. Don’t leave your valuable medical device brand unprotected – get expert help to register your trademark under Class 10 in India today.