They are pronounced like "niece" for Nice as a city, not like "nice" as in "oh, how nice!"

So most countries in the world have adopted a system where they group all possible products and services into 45 categories that they call classes. So there are 34 classes, or categories, of physical products and 11 glasses of services.

When you file your trademark application you will need to specify which of those classes your products or services fit. So when the trademark examiner gets your trademark application, it is easier for them to see how it compares with other previously filed trademark applications or previously registered trademark applications.

Up till now, Canada does not officially have this. We are about to join it. It's about to come into force, so they are starting to classify, but it has no legal meaning, as of now. It will very soon; we don't know when. But when it does, it's very likely that Canadian government fees are about to go up because they will be based, as they are in most other countries, on a number of classes, as opposed to now Canada has a single government filing fee, that covers as many products and services you may want to stuff in your trademark application.