The 34th session of the Nice Union Committee of Experts (Committee CLIM/CE/34) on the introduction of amendments and additions to the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (CIPS) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 22 to 26 April, 2024.

The CLIM/CE/34 Committee was attended by representatives of the Nice Union Member States, international governmental and non-governmental organizations. The committee was moderated by Sébastien Tinguely (Switzerland), chair elected during the previous session.

The Republic of Moldova was represented in the CLIM/CE/34 Committee meeting by Victoria Pulbere, Deputy Head of the Trademarks and Industrial Design Department, State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI).

Every year, the Nice Union Committee of Experts updates the classification according to market and user trends and needs. Similar to the previous sessions, the CE34 session had two stages, Vote 1 through the NCLRMS (Nice Classification Revision Management Solution) tool, until 31.03.2024 and Vote 2 was made available to Member States to vote definitively on the remaining proposals.

Thus, for five days the documents were examined in accordance with the Work Agenda (CLIM/CE/34/1 PROV.). All the terms forwarded to CLIM/CE/34 (460 terms) were examined during the sessions, namely addition of new terms from various fields, exclusion of some existing terms and the completion/modification of existing terms on the entire list of goods and services.

A series of proposals aimed at harmonizing the classification of essential oils according to their function or purpose were also examined during the session, including a series of changes in the lists of goods and services as well as in the explanatory notes.

The subject of virtual goods and services offered in the virtual environment remains an issue for the Committee of Experts. Thus, several proposals were submitted, but considering the impossibility of perceiving and assigning them to classes of goods or services, or the creation of precedents in the context of classification, many were rejected or even withdrawn by the countries that submitted the proposals. The challenges that come along with technological progress will also bring certain solutions to the problems of classifying terms, so the subject will be discussed in the following sessions in the context of identifying common classification practices.

All amendments accepted during the current session will take effect on January 1, 2025 (version NCL(12-2025)).