Trademark Class 9: Software, apps and electronics
Downloadable software and electronic hardware. The single most misunderstood class on the register, because a downloadable app and an online platform are not the same filing.
“Scientific, research, navigation, surveying, photographic, cinematographic, audiovisual, optical, weighing, measuring, signalling, detecting, testing, inspecting, life-saving and teaching apparatus and instruments; apparatus and instruments for conducting, switching, transforming, accumulating, regulating or controlling the distribution or use of electricity; apparatus and instruments for recording, transmitting, reproducing or processing sound, images or data; recorded and downloadable media, computer software, blank digital or analogue recording and storage media; mechanisms for coin-operated apparatus; cash registers, calculating devices; computers and computer peripheral devices; diving suits, divers' masks, ear plugs for divers, nose clips for divers and swimmers, gloves for divers, breathing apparatus for underwater swimming; fire-extinguishing apparatus.”
Official class heading, Nice Agreement, Eleventh Edition. Published by the USPTO.
Typical goods and services in class 9
- Downloadable mobile apps
- Downloadable or boxed software
- Computers, phones, tablets and peripherals
- Headphones, speakers, chargers and cables
- Downloadable e-books, music and video
- Eyewear and sunglasses
Example of pre-approved USPTO wording for this class: Downloadable mobile applications. Using the USPTO’s own ID Manual language keeps your filing fee at the base rate — describing your goods in your own words carries a surcharge of $200 per class.
Commonly confused with class 9
These look like they belong here and do not. Each one is a separate class with a separate $350 government fee, and a class cannot be added to an application once it has been filed.
Software a customer uses online without downloading it — SaaS is a service
Class 42 — SaaS, IT and design services
Printed books and magazines
Class 16 — Paper, stationery and printed matter
Streaming and broadcasting as a service
Class 38 — Telecommunications
Software development done for clients
Class 42 — SaaS, IT and design services
Medical devices
Class 10 — Medical and surgical devices
If customers download it, class 9. If they log into it, class 42. Many software businesses genuinely need both, and filing only one leaves the other unprotected.
Filing in one class
A single-class application in class 9 costs $350 in USPTO government fees, paid to the government, plus our flat fee of $199 — $549 in total. Every additional class is another $350. Government fees are current as of 18 January 2025.
Work out how many classes you need Check if the name is taken
This page describes how the USPTO groups goods and services in general. It is not legal advice about your application, and the lists above are written for the common case rather than being exhaustive. Which classes you actually need depends on what you sell, and a licensed attorney confirms them before anything is filed.
Classes either side of this one
Class 7 — Machines and power tools
Powered machinery. The rule that catches people out: if it is powered, it is class 7; if a hand drives it, it is class 8.
Class 8 — Hand tools and cutlery
Tools and implements driven by hand, plus cutlery and razors — including electric razors, which is a genuine exception to the powered-equals-class-7 rule.
Class 10 — Medical and surgical devices
Physical medical equipment and assistive devices — the hardware of healthcare, as opposed to the substances in class 5 or the services in class 44.
Class 11 — Lighting, heating and sanitary appliances
Appliances and installations that light, heat, cool, cook or move water. A short heading that covers an enormous amount of household and commercial equipment.