Trademark Classes
Trademark Class for Software and Apps
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Two classes carry almost all software branding in India, and the line between them is not what the product does but how it reaches the customer.
Class 9 covers software the customer downloads or installs. Class 42 covers software delivered as a service over the internet. Most software businesses genuinely need both.
The core split: downloaded or delivered?
If the customer ends up with a copy of your software on their device — a mobile app from an app store, a desktop installer, firmware, an SDK — that is a good, and goods belong in Class 9. The Nice Classification treats downloadable computer programs as products, regardless of price or platform.
If the customer never receives a copy and instead uses your software by connecting to it — a browser-based dashboard, an API, a cloud platform — that is a service, and it belongs in Class 42 as software as a service.
The same code can sit on both sides. A product with a web app and a mobile app is being supplied both ways, which is why one class is so often not enough.
Which one is yours?
Mobile app on the App Store or Play Store: Class 9, because the user downloads it. If it also has a web version, add Class 42.
Pure SaaS with no download: Class 42. This covers the large majority of B2B software.
SaaS with a companion mobile app or desktop client: both 9 and 42. The moment you ship anything installable, Class 9 becomes relevant.
Software development or IT consulting for clients: Class 42, under software design and development rather than software as a service.
A game: Class 9 if downloadable. Online play that is not downloaded is usually Class 41 as entertainment, which catches a lot of studios out.
The third class most software businesses miss
Classes 9 and 42 protect the software. They do not necessarily protect what the software does, and that is where the gap usually is. The function often sits in its own class.
If your platform is a marketplace bringing third-party goods together for customers to buy, that is retail service and belongs in Class 35. An e-commerce app typically needs 9 or 42 for the software and 35 for the marketplace.
If you handle payments, lending, insurance or investments, those are financial services in Class 36. A fintech app filing only in 9 and 42 has protected the software and left the actual business unprotected.
If your product transmits messages or data as its core function, telecommunications is Class 38. Messaging and calling apps commonly need it.
If you deliver courses or training, that is Class 41. An edtech platform is usually 9 or 42 plus 41.
Three worked examples
A B2B analytics dashboard, browser only. Class 42 alone is a complete answer. There is nothing to gain from padding it.
A food delivery app. Class 9 for the downloadable app, Class 42 for the platform, Class 35 for bringing restaurants together for customers to order from, and Class 39 if you run the delivery yourself rather than through partners.
A fintech app for payments. Class 9 for the app, Class 36 for the payment services. Class 42 as well if there is a web platform. Here Class 36 is the one that actually matters, because that is the service customers are buying.
Why filing only one class is risky
Protection does not spread from one class to another. A registration in Class 42 does not stop someone registering your name in Class 9, and a registration for the software does not stop someone using your name for the financial service the software provides.
Software is also a crowded field on the Indian register, so the practical risk is not hypothetical. The useful test for each class is simple: if a competitor launched under your name in that class tomorrow, would it damage you? If yes, it belongs in the application.
Before you file
Classification here turns on your delivery model and your actual function, not on the technology stack, so describe what you sell in plain words before choosing classes. Check each element in the trademark class finder rather than reasoning from class headings.
If your business is service-led more broadly, the guide to trademark classes for service businesses covers all eleven service classes and the exclusions that catch people out.