All classes · Class 32
Class 32: Light Beverages: trademark trends & clearance risk
Class 32 is the 28th busiest of the 45 classes, with 206,070 U.S. applications on record and 15,377 waiting for a decision. Its registration rate of 51.7% ranks the lowest of any class, below the 61.9% average. Filings rose 11.3% in 2025, and are below the 9,606 filed in the peak year of 2016. 56.8% of applications filed from 2015 to 2019 drew an Office Action, the 4th lowest share. The word used most in its live marks is "brewing", in 3,534 of them.
What it covers: Beers; mineral and aerated waters and other non-alcoholic beverages; fruit beverages
Words already crowded in Class 32
The words that appear most often in the 81,329 live Class 32 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 "brewing" is easier to fit in, and harder to defend against the next one.
| Word | Live marks using it |
|---|---|
| brewing | 3,534 |
| water | 2,309 |
| beer | 1,927 |
| energy | 1,612 |
| ale | 1,115 |
| drink | 1,052 |
| juice | 793 |
| brewery | 679 |
| life | 563 |
| good | 560 |
| lager | 534 |
| ipa | 521 |
| red | 444 |
| natural | 427 |
| soda | 426 |
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 32, not only exact matches. If your mark has a logo, run it through the logo similarity search too.
Easy to confuse with Class 32
Filing in the wrong class means paying again, so check where your goods or services actually belong.
- Beer is Class 32. Wine, spirits and other alcoholic drinks are Class 33. Class 33: Wine & Spirits
- Soft drinks, juices and energy drinks are Class 32. Coffee and tea drinks are Class 30. Class 30: Staple Foods
Not sure? Describe what you sell to the class recommender.
Wording that got through in Class 32
The descriptions of goods and services used most often in Class 32 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 |
|---|---|
| Beer | 5,221 |
| Energy drinks | 2,208 |
| Soft drinks | 1,630 |
| Fruit juices | 1,252 |
| Beers | 1,201 |
| Non-alcoholic fruit juice beverages | 952 |
| Sports drinks | 917 |
| Water beverages | 871 |
| Smoothies | 867 |
| Non-alcoholic carbonated beverages | 817 |
| Mineral water | 765 |
| Bottled water | 742 |
| Mineral and aerated waters | 701 |
| Fruit juice | 700 |
| Vegetable juices | 700 |
| Drinking water | 699 |
| Fruit beverages and fruit juices | 690 |
| Non-alcoholic water-based beverages | 673 |
| Soda water | 570 |
| Fruit-based beverages | 554 |
Each application's description split into its separate items, counted once per application. Source: USPTO records. Rebuilt weekly.
What examination did to Class 32 applications
The 46,980 Class 32 applications filed from 2015 to 2019, followed through their file histories. 53.7% of them registered 7.8 points worse than the all-class average.
| What happened | Applications | Share | All 45 classes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filed in this class | 46,980 | 100% | – |
| Drew at least one Office Action | 26,665 | 56.8% | 58.4% |
| Escalated to a final refusal | 3,908 | 8.3% | 8.9% |
| Abandoned for never answering one | 10,470 | 22.3% | – |
| Registered in the end | 25,226 | 53.7% | 61.5% |
Every share is of the 46,980 applications filed. Rows overlap: an application that drew an Office Action and then registered is counted in both.
Of the 26,665 Class 32 applications that drew one, 39.3% were abandoned for never answering or answering late. Of those that did answer, 73.1% 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 32 applications that registered did so within 13 months of filing, and nine in ten within 31 months.
- Intent to use. 44% reached a Notice of Allowance, with only proof of use left to file. Even then, 48.4% of them were abandoned without a Statement of Use ever being filed, and of the ones that bought three or more extensions first, only 30.6% made it to registration.
- Filing without an attorney. 77.6% of Class 32 applications had an attorney on record, and those registered 58.1% of the time against 38.4% without one. 62% of unrepresented applicants who drew an Office Action never answered it. Your odds in Class 32.
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) | 45,562 | 22.1% |
| Pending | 15,377 | 7.5% |
| Abandoned | 92,088 | 44.7% |
| Cancelled / expired | 53,043 | 25.7% |
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 | 2,189 | |
| 2016 | 9,606 | |
| 2017 | 9,386 | |
| 2018 | 9,359 | |
| 2019 | 9,337 | |
| 2020 | 8,659 | |
| 2021 | 8,557 | |
| 2022 | 7,320 | |
| 2023 | 7,475 | |
| 2024 | 7,951 | |
| 2025 | 8,852 | |
| 2026 | 6,684 |
Source: USPTO bulk trademark feed. How we count.
International filings in Class 32 (Madrid System)
Where Class 32 marks are designated, and where they are refused
| Country / office | Designations | Provisional | Total refusals | Partial | Refusal rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States (US) | 1,561 | 97.5% | 35 | 6 | 2.2% |
| European Union (EM) | 1,536 | 32.7% | 46 | 18 | 3% |
| China (CN) | 1,485 | 67.5% | 346 | 439 | 23.3% |
| United Kingdom (GB) | 1,320 | 16.5% | 15 | 4 | 1.1% |
| Switzerland (CH) | 1,228 | 20.4% | 38 | 1 | 3.1% |
| Canada (CA) | 1,145 | 93.2% | 253 | 0 | 22.1% |
| Australia (AU) | 1,120 | 37% | 7 | 1 | 0.6% |
| Japan (JP) | 1,118 | 72.7% | 156 | 0 | 14% |
Most international Class 32 filers come from European Union (3,604), Germany (3,076), France (2,883), Switzerland (1,785), Benelux (1,695), Italy (1,380).
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 32.
| # | Filer | Applications in this class |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PEPSICO, INC. | 4,413 |
| 2 | ANHEUSER-BUSCH, INCORPORATED | 2,583 |
| 3 | THE COCA-COLA COMPANY | 1,767 |
| 4 | MILLER BREWING COMPANY | 1,438 |
| 5 | Coca Cola Company, The | 1,381 |
| 6 | ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLC | 1,270 |
| 7 | MILLERCOORS LLC | 974 |
| 8 | STOKELY-VAN CAMP, INC. | 936 |
| 9 | TROPICANA PRODUCTS, INC. | 867 |
| 10 | Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG | 745 |
Recently registered in Class 32
The latest marks the USPTO registered in this class, on 29 September 2026.