USPTO Announces Trilateral Goods ID Manual

The United States Patent and Trademark Office, the European Office for the Harmonization in the Internal Market, and the Japan Patent Office reached agreement on a list of identifications and classifications for goods and services that will be accepted in trademark applications filed in the three offices. According to the USPTO press release on June 3, 2004, having a consistent list for all three offices will now make corresponding trademark registration easier and faster in the world's three major intellectual property offices. Representatives from the USPTO, OHIM and JPO, known as the Trademark Trilateral Partnership group, have been working for over two years on this project.

A link to the new "Trilateral Goods ID Manual" was not provided, but here are a few websites to watch for further developments:

USPTO's current Trademark Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual
Trilateral Activities at the USPTO
USPTO Trilateral Website
International Trademark Association
International Classifications from WIPO