All classes · Class 36
Class 36: Insurance & Financial: trademark trends & clearance risk
Class 36 is the 8th busiest of the 45 classes, with 612,132 U.S. applications on record and 39,982 waiting for a decision. Its registration rate of 63.1% ranks 25th of 45, above the 61.9% average. Filings rose 8.1% in 2025, and are below the 26,704 filed in the peak year of 2021. 61.2% of applications filed from 2015 to 2019 drew an Office Action, the 19th lowest share. The word used most in its live marks is "capital", in 5,687 of them.
What it covers: Insurance; financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs
Words already crowded in Class 36
The words that appear most often in the 237,271 live Class 36 marks. A word that many owners already use gets narrow protection: two marks that share it are usually told apart by the rest of the name. That cuts both ways. A new name built on "capital" is easier to fit in, and harder to defend against the next one.
| Word | Live marks using it |
|---|---|
| capital | 5,687 |
| insurance | 4,385 |
| group | 4,349 |
| financial | 4,105 |
| foundation | 3,958 |
| bank | 3,913 |
| management | 3,327 |
| com | 2,810 |
| wealth | 2,760 |
| real | 2,737 |
| life | 2,570 |
| partners | 2,531 |
| estate | 2,527 |
| services | 2,491 |
| credit | 2,458 |
Live marks are registered or pending. Words of three letters or more, counted once per mark; articles and company suffixes left out. Rebuilt weekly.
Check before you file. The free clearance risk check finds marks that look or sound like yours in Class 36, not only exact matches. If your mark has a logo, run it through the logo similarity search too.
Easy to confuse with Class 36
Filing in the wrong class means paying again, so check where your goods or services actually belong.
- Banking, insurance, investment and real estate are Class 36. Accounting and bookkeeping are Class 35. Class 35: Advertising & Business
- Financial services are Class 36. A downloadable finance app is Class 9. Class 9: Computers & Electronics
Not sure? Describe what you sell to the class recommender.
Wording that got through in Class 36
The descriptions of goods and services used most often in Class 36 applications that went on to register, filed since 2020. Wording that examiners have accepted thousands of times is a safer start than your own: a description written freely costs $200 more per class and is a common reason for an Office Action asking you to rephrase. Check the exact entry in the USPTO's ID Manual before you file.
| Description | Registered marks using it |
|---|---|
| Real estate brokerage | 2,756 |
| Real estate agency services | 2,626 |
| Charitable fundraising services | 2,359 |
| Real estate investment services | 2,133 |
| Charitable fundraising | 2,116 |
| Banking services | 2,115 |
| Investment management | 1,937 |
| Financial planning and investment advisory services | 1,746 |
| Financial planning | 1,730 |
| Financial services, namely, wealth management services | 1,708 |
| Real estate management services | 1,705 |
| Investment advisory services | 1,581 |
| Financial management | 1,562 |
| Real estate management | 1,516 |
| Financial asset management | 1,394 |
| Financing services | 1,369 |
| Real estate consultancy | 1,335 |
| Leasing of real estate | 1,310 |
| Insurance brokerage services | 1,308 |
| Financial consultancy | 1,305 |
Each application's description split into its separate items, counted once per application. Source: USPTO records. Rebuilt weekly.
What examination did to Class 36 applications
The 104,635 Class 36 applications filed from 2015 to 2019, followed through their file histories. 64.5% of them registered 3 points better than the all-class average.
| What happened | Applications | Share | All 45 classes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filed in this class | 104,635 | 100% | – |
| Drew at least one Office Action | 64,001 | 61.2% | 58.4% |
| Escalated to a final refusal | 10,218 | 9.8% | 8.9% |
| Abandoned for never answering one | 19,620 | 18.8% | – |
| Registered in the end | 67,442 | 64.5% | 61.5% |
Every share is of the 104,635 applications filed. Rows overlap: an application that drew an Office Action and then registered is counted in both.
Of the 64,001 Class 36 applications that drew one, 30.7% were abandoned for never answering or answering late. Of those that did answer, 81.2% went on to register. If you get one, the deadline matters more than the refusal does: track it here, and put an email address you actually read on the application.
- How long it took. Half the Class 36 applications that registered did so within 12.2 months of filing, and nine in ten within 27.6 months.
- Intent to use. 37.3% reached a Notice of Allowance, with only proof of use left to file. Even then, 39% of them were abandoned without a Statement of Use ever being filed, and of the ones that bought three or more extensions first, only 39% made it to registration.
- Filing without an attorney. 80.4% of Class 36 applications had an attorney on record, and those registered 69% of the time against 45.7% without one. 59.7% of unrepresented applicants who drew an Office Action never answered it. Your odds in Class 36.
Cohort: applications with a filing date from 2015 to 2019, counted once in every class they claim. Outcome is whether a registration ever issued. Source: USPTO file histories. All 45 classes compared. How we count.
Status mix of all filings
| Status | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Live (registered) | 170,474 | 27.8% |
| Pending | 39,982 | 6.5% |
| Abandoned | 211,407 | 34.5% |
| Cancelled / expired | 190,269 | 31.1% |
Filings by year (last decade)
How many new applications were filed in this class each year. Excludes records with null filing dates (mostly very old paper backfile).
| Year | New filings | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4,614 | |
| 2016 | 18,601 | |
| 2017 | 21,048 | |
| 2018 | 23,138 | |
| 2019 | 22,573 | |
| 2020 | 23,484 | |
| 2021 | 26,704 | |
| 2022 | 25,902 | |
| 2023 | 22,285 | |
| 2024 | 23,247 | |
| 2025 | 25,135 | |
| 2026 | 19,760 |
Source: USPTO bulk trademark feed. How we count.
International filings in Class 36 (Madrid System)
Where Class 36 marks are designated, and where they are refused
| Country / office | Designations | Provisional | Total refusals | Partial | Refusal rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union (EM) | 3,141 | 32.2% | 103 | 29 | 3.3% |
| United Kingdom (GB) | 2,923 | 16.6% | 21 | 8 | 0.7% |
| United States (US) | 2,699 | 99.5% | 90 | 8 | 3.3% |
| Switzerland (CH) | 2,371 | 14.8% | 78 | 1 | 3.3% |
| Canada (CA) | 2,220 | 92.3% | 557 | 0 | 25.1% |
| China (CN) | 2,198 | 79.8% | 578 | 819 | 26.3% |
| Australia (AU) | 2,077 | 45.1% | 11 | 4 | 0.5% |
| Singapore (SG) | 1,926 | 64.5% | 57 | 12 | 3% |
Most international Class 36 filers come from European Union (4,476), United States (4,054), Germany (3,518), France (3,212), Switzerland (2,965), United Kingdom (2,736).
WIPO Madrid Monitor data (CC BY 4.0); refusals measured on 2019–2022 registrations. Why we count this way.
Most-active filers in this class
The 10 entities with the most trademark applications in Class 36.
| # | Filer | Applications in this class |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC. | 4,557 |
| 2 | BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION | 2,714 |
| 3 | WELLS FARGO & COMPANY | 2,391 |
| 4 | MERRILL LYNCH & CO., INC. | 1,665 |
| 5 | MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED | 1,644 |
| 6 | CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION | 1,438 |
| 7 | HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY | 1,370 |
| 8 | CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC. | 1,357 |
| 9 | FMR CORP. | 1,300 |
| 10 | PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA,THE | 1,297 |
Recently registered in Class 36
The latest marks the USPTO registered in this class, on 29 September 2026.