All classes · Class 38
Class 38: Telecommunications: trademark trends & clearance risk
Class 38 is the 24th busiest of the 45 classes, with 229,726 U.S. applications on record and 11,871 waiting for a decision. Its registration rate of 53% ranks 44th of 45, below the 61.9% average. Filings rose 0.8% in 2025, and are below the 8,358 filed in the peak year of 2021. 75% of applications filed from 2015 to 2019 drew an Office Action, the highest share of any class. The word used most in its live marks is "com", in 1,628 of them.
What it covers: Telecommunications
Words already crowded in Class 38
The words that appear most often in the 78,980 live Class 38 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 "com" is easier to fit in, and harder to defend against the next one.
| Word | Live marks using it |
|---|---|
| com | 1,628 |
| network | 1,421 |
| radio | 627 |
| world | 600 |
| communications | 582 |
| channel | 525 |
| one | 498 |
| mobile | 451 |
| media | 449 |
| wireless | 439 |
| internet | 407 |
| digital | 386 |
| net | 374 |
| business | 372 |
| global | 371 |
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 38, not only exact matches. If your mark has a logo, run it through the logo similarity search too.
Easy to confuse with Class 38
Filing in the wrong class means paying again, so check where your goods or services actually belong.
- Transmitting content is Class 38. Providing the films, music or shows themselves is Class 41. Class 41: Education & Entertainment
- Telecommunications are Class 38. Website hosting is Class 42. Class 42: Computer & Scientific
Not sure? Describe what you sell to the class recommender.
Wording that got through in Class 38
The descriptions of goods and services used most often in Class 38 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 |
|---|---|
| Providing access to databases | 1,363 |
| Streaming of data | 826 |
| Providing internet chatrooms | 805 |
| Transmission of digital files | 794 |
| Communications by computer terminals | 743 |
| Internet broadcasting services | 665 |
| Telecommunication access services | 651 |
| Streaming of audio, visual and audiovisual material via a global computer network | 635 |
| Computer aided transmission of messages and images | 632 |
| Providing user access to global computer networks | 621 |
| Television broadcasting | 609 |
| Providing telecommunications connections to a global computer network | 603 |
| Radio broadcasting | 579 |
| Teleconferencing services | 558 |
| Transmission of podcasts | 526 |
| Transmission of electronic mail | 521 |
| Electronic bulletin board services | 516 |
| Streaming of video material on the internet | 514 |
| Electronic data transmission | 452 |
| Providing online forums | 448 |
Each application's description split into its separate items, counted once per application. Source: USPTO records. Rebuilt weekly.
What examination did to Class 38 applications
The 34,679 Class 38 applications filed from 2015 to 2019, followed through their file histories. 60.4% of them registered 1.1 points worse than the all-class average.
| What happened | Applications | Share | All 45 classes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filed in this class | 34,679 | 100% | – |
| Drew at least one Office Action | 26,002 | 75% | 58.4% |
| Escalated to a final refusal | 5,271 | 15.2% | 8.9% |
| Abandoned for never answering one | 6,742 | 19.4% | – |
| Registered in the end | 20,933 | 60.4% | 61.5% |
Every share is of the 34,679 applications filed. Rows overlap: an application that drew an Office Action and then registered is counted in both.
Of the 26,002 Class 38 applications that drew one, 25.9% were abandoned for never answering or answering late. Of those that did answer, 79% 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 38 applications that registered did so within 15.4 months of filing, and nine in ten within 35.2 months.
- Intent to use. 37.8% reached a Notice of Allowance, with only proof of use left to file. Even then, 47.2% of them were abandoned without a Statement of Use ever being filed, and of the ones that bought three or more extensions first, only 35.9% made it to registration.
- Filing without an attorney. 80.5% of Class 38 applications had an attorney on record, and those registered 64.5% of the time against 43.4% without one. 53.2% of unrepresented applicants who drew an Office Action never answered it. Your odds in Class 38.
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) | 44,713 | 19.5% |
| Pending | 11,871 | 5.2% |
| Abandoned | 102,456 | 44.6% |
| Cancelled / expired | 70,686 | 30.8% |
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 | 1,671 | |
| 2016 | 6,831 | |
| 2017 | 7,253 | |
| 2018 | 7,026 | |
| 2019 | 6,688 | |
| 2020 | 7,411 | |
| 2021 | 8,358 | |
| 2022 | 7,540 | |
| 2023 | 6,336 | |
| 2024 | 5,953 | |
| 2025 | 6,000 | |
| 2026 | 4,416 |
Source: USPTO bulk trademark feed. How we count.
International filings in Class 38 (Madrid System)
Where Class 38 marks are designated, and where they are refused
| Country / office | Designations | Provisional | Total refusals | Partial | Refusal rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States (US) | 3,058 | 99.2% | 60 | 9 | 2% |
| European Union (EM) | 2,843 | 35.8% | 79 | 21 | 2.8% |
| United Kingdom (GB) | 2,732 | 18.4% | 16 | 12 | 0.6% |
| Switzerland (CH) | 2,443 | 15.4% | 66 | 2 | 2.7% |
| Canada (CA) | 2,338 | 97.3% | 610 | 0 | 26.1% |
| China (CN) | 2,131 | 78.1% | 460 | 847 | 21.6% |
| Australia (AU) | 2,001 | 43.5% | 5 | 3 | 0.2% |
| Japan (JP) | 1,853 | 89.8% | 287 | 0 | 15.5% |
Most international Class 38 filers come from European Union (5,550), France (5,268), Germany (5,019), Switzerland (2,208), United Kingdom (1,955), United States (1,915).
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 38.
| # | Filer | Applications in this class |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MCI COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION | 3,067 |
| 2 | AT&T CORP. | 2,362 |
| 3 | Deutsche Telekom AG | 1,488 |
| 4 | AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY II, L.P. | 1,292 |
| 5 | T-MOBILE USA, INC. | 1,207 |
| 6 | AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY | 793 |
| 7 | VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC. | 747 |
| 8 | QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC. | 713 |
| 9 | AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 707 |
| 10 | SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P. | 695 |
Recently registered in Class 38
The latest marks the USPTO registered in this class, on 29 September 2026.