Clothing, footwear and headwear for human beings are classified in Class 25 according to function (as items for covering the body) regardless of material composition. Thus, goods such as clothing of leather and imitations of leather, as well as paper clothing, belong to Class 25. However, the following exceptions should be considered when classifying goods in this class:
Items of clothing, footwear and headwear that are specially adapted for a particular use are classified in the class that is related to that use. Some examples are clothing for protection against fire and other highly protective clothing in Cl. 9, as well as orthopaedic footwear and clothing especially for operating rooms in Cl. 10.
Although, in general, clothing and footwear for sports are in Class 25, for example, ski gloves, ski boots, sports singlets, cyclists' clothing, martial arts uniforms, football shoes and gymnastic shoes, clothing or footwear that is considered to be essential for the practice of certain sports (and cannot be used for general wear) belongs to Cl. 28. Examples in Cl. 28 include baseball gloves, boxing gloves and ice skates. It should be noted, however, that protective helmets for sports are classified in Cl. 9 due to their protective nature, rather than Class 25 or Cl. 28.
When clothing is electrically heated, for example, electrically heated socks or footmuffs, such goods belong to Cl. 11 rather than Class 25 because of their heating function. Furthermore, fitted footmuffs for pushchairs belong to Cl. 12 as they are specially adapted to be used with pushchairs which are Cl. 12 goods.
While paper hats for use as clothing are in Class 25, paper party hats are in Cl. 28 as amusement and novelty items, thus it is not just specialized clothing for use in sports that can belong to Cl. 28. Similarly, while masquerade costumes are in Class 25, theatrical and carnival masks are in Cl. 28.
Bibs are in Class 25 as clothing items except for bibs of paper which belong to Cl. 16 as disposable paper goods like paper tablecloths and napkins. In addition, while pocket squares are included in Class 25 as clothing articles, handkerchiefs are classified by material in Cl. 16 (if made of paper) or Cl. 24 (if made of textile).
Finally, it should be noted that certain parts of clothing, footwear and headwear, such as cuffs, pockets, ready-made linings, heels and heelpieces, cap peaks and hat frames (skeletons) are in Class 25. However, most fastenings and haberdashery accessories like clasps, buckles, zippers, ribbons, hatbands, and hat and shoe trimmings are in Cl. 26, and structural parts of shoes, like dowels and shoe pegs, are classified according to material in Cl. 6 or Cl. 20.