Which Nice Classification Class Is a Mobile App In?

Whether a mobile app sits in Class 9 or Class 42 comes down to what you're actually offering: a piece of software, or an ongoing service delivered through that software.

Class 9: the app as downloadable software

Class 9 covers computer software, including downloadable mobile apps, alongside other electronics and IT equipment. This fits apps that are essentially standalone software — a game, a utility, a one-time-purchase tool — where the value is in the software itself.

Class 42: the app as a service

Class 42 covers software-as-a-service and IT services more broadly. If your app is the interface to an ongoing cloud-hosted service — a subscription platform, a SaaS product, anything where the "app" is really just how customers access a service running on your servers — Class 42 is usually the more accurate class, sometimes alongside Class 9 for the app itself.

This is one of the most commonly misjudged classifications for tech and D2C startups, because the same word — "app" — describes both models. A meditation app that's just a library of downloadable audio files behaves differently, classification-wise, from a fitness app that's really a subscription service with a companion app.

Getting it right matters for enforcement

If a competitor launches a similarly named product in the class you didn't file, your registration gives you no automatic ground to object — regardless of how similar the products look to an end user. Given how much tech businesses evolve after launch, it's worth thinking through where the business is headed, not just its current version, before settling on one class.

Describe your specific business model in our Nice Classification Finder for a starting suggestion, and see the full Nice Classification guide for how Classes 9 and 42 relate to the rest of the system.

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