WIPO's Nice Classification puts software as a service (SaaS) in Class 42. The Class 42 explanatory note names SaaS and platform as a service directly. Nepal's Department of Industry (DoI) uses the same 45-class list, so a Nepali SaaS brand normally files in Class 42 too.
Key takeaways
- The Nice note for Class 42 names software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service in plain words, so there is nothing to argue about.
- Class 42 is the service class. Software the customer downloads and installs is a product, and that sits in Class 9.
- Class 42 is wider than software: it also holds architectural services, interior and industrial design, quality control and scientific research.
- Nepal files one application per class (Sec. 18A), so a brand used for both an app and a hosted service needs two filings.
- Nepal is first-to-file, and a foreign registration does not reach Nepal on its own.
Does WIPO put software as a service in Class 42?
Yes, and it says so without hedging. The explanatory note for Class 42 lists "software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS)" among the things the class includes.
The alphabetical list goes further. It carries software as a service [SaaS] as its own indexed entry, next to platform as a service and "providing virtual computer systems through cloud computing".
That surprises founders, who assume a cloud product must be filed in the goods classes. It is the other way round: hosting something for a customer is a service, and handing them a file to install is a product.
Which newer tech services sit in Class 42?
The list keeps pace with the market. Recent editions added artificial intelligence as a service, blockchain smart-contract programming and the hosting of virtual environments, all inside Class 42.
You can check any of this yourself on the WIPO Nice Classification pages, which publish the heading, the note and the full alphabetical list for every class.
What is the official Class 42 heading?
The current heading reads: scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis, industrial research and industrial design services; quality control and authentication services; design and development of computer hardware and software.
Quality control and authentication services were added to that heading in a later edition. Older copies of the list do not show them at all, which is one way to spot a stale source.
Why do older Class 42 lists mention legal services?
Because they used to belong here. Legal services moved out of Class 42 and into Class 45 years ago, but plenty of sites still reproduce the pre-move heading.
Copying that wording into a Nepali application invites an objection you did not need. Nice editions change, so read the class on WIPO's own pages rather than on a law-firm blog.
When does software belong in Class 9 instead?
The split is about delivery, not about how clever the code is. If the customer downloads a file and runs it on their own device, that is a good.
"Recorded and downloadable multimedia files, computer software" sits in the Class 9 heading, alongside computers and peripherals.
If instead the customer reaches your software over the internet and you keep running it, that is a service. Class 42 is where it goes.
Can one product need both Class 9 and Class 42?
Often, yes. A payroll company might publish a mobile app for staff to install and run the employer dashboard in the cloud. Those are two different offerings under one name.
In Nepal that means two applications, because Sec. 18A of the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965 requires one application per class. The AI class suggester is a fast way to test a description before you commit.
Which neighbouring classes catch software businesses?
Class 42 is generous but it has firm edges, and the Nice note spells several of them out. Reading the "does not include" list settles most arguments before an examiner has to.
| What you actually sell | Likely class | Why it is not Class 42 |
|---|---|---|
| An app or software file customers install | Class 9 | Downloadable software is listed as a good in the Class 9 heading. |
| An online marketplace selling other people's goods | Class 35 | Class 35 covers advertising, business management and retail-type services. |
| Installing, maintaining or repairing hardware | Class 37 | The Nice note sends hardware installation and repair to Class 37. |
| Transmitting messages, calls or data for others | Class 38 | Telecommunications is its own class; Class 42 builds the system, it does not carry the traffic. |
| Legal work, including legal research and IP advice | Class 45 | Legal services left Class 42 and now sit in Class 45. |
If your platform straddles two of those rows, that is a signal rather than a problem. It usually means the business has two brands' worth of activity running under one name. Our guide to goods versus services classification works through the distinction.
Is cybersecurity Class 42 or Class 45?
Class 42, despite how it sounds. The Nice note puts computer and technology services for securing data, virus protection and encryption squarely inside Class 42.
It then sends computer and internet security consultancy away from Class 45. The "security services" in Class 45 mean guarding people and physical property, not networks.
Are architecture and interior design really in Class 42?
They are. The class note gives architectural and urban planning services as core examples, alongside scientific laboratory services and engineering.
It also lists industrial design, interior design, packaging design, graphic arts design and dress designing among the design services in the class. Landscape design is the odd one out and belongs to Class 44.
How do you file a Class 42 trademark in Nepal?
The governing statute is the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, titled the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 in the official English text published by the Nepal Law Commission.
The DoI also acts as a quasi-judicial body when a mark is challenged. Rights come from registration under Sec. 16, not from launching first.
- Search the register. Check identical and similar names in Class 42, and in Class 9 if you also ship an app. Our free trademark search covers marks published in DoI bulletins; it shows published marks, not registration status.
- Write the description in Nice wording. "Software as a service (SaaS) featuring software for payroll management" reads better to an examiner than "software services". The NICE class finder is a quick first test.
- Pick every class you need. One application, one class. Decide now whether the app, the training arm or the online shop needs its own filing.
- File at the DoI with the application form, the mark label and your company papers. A foreign owner files through a Nepal-based agent with a notarised power of attorney.
- Answer examination. The DoI checks the mark against Sec. 18 and may raise objections you have to reply to in writing.
- Clear publication. An accepted mark appears in the Industrial Property Bulletin, and anyone may oppose it within 90 days.
- Collect the certificate. Registration runs 7 years from the date of registration and renews in further 7-year terms.
How long does a Class 42 filing take?
An unopposed application usually takes about 12 to 14 months from filing to certificate, and the smoothest cases finish in 6 to 8 months.
Our own bulletin records put the median filing-to-publication gap at about 3.5 months, though about one mark in six waits more than two years. Treat any timeline as typical rather than promised, and plan the launch around the 90-day opposition window, which cannot be shortened.
What documents does a software company need?
A Nepali company generally files the application form, the label of the mark, a notarised power of attorney, a board resolution, the industry certificate and, for an established business, the latest tax clearance letter; a newly formed company will not have one yet.
A foreign owner adds a certified copy of its home registration in English and files through a Nepal-based agent. Requirements shift, so confirm the current list with the Department of Industry before assembling the file.
How common is Class 42 in Nepal's bulletins?
Class 42 is still a small class here. Across the DoI bulletins IP Sewa has indexed, more than 1,300 published marks carry Class 42.
Class 35, the business-services class, carries more than 3,700, and Class 9 more than 3,400.
These are IP Sewa's counts of published bulletin entries, not official DoI statistics. Publication is not the same as registration, so read them as a rough map of activity.
A Nepali software brand is therefore filing into a thinner field than a food or cosmetics brand. That is an argument for filing early, not for relaxing: thin classes fill quickly once a sector grows.
What does the class split look like for one brand?
Take a Kathmandu company trading as "Sajilo Khata". It hosts an accounting dashboard businesses log into, publishes a mobile app that staff install, and runs a paid training programme under the same name. This is an illustration, not a real case.
The hosted dashboard is Class 42. The installable app is Class 9. The training is likely Class 41 — three applications in Nepal for one brand.
Skipping the Class 9 filing would leave the most visible part of the business, the app on people's phones, outside the registration. Which of the three actually matters is a commercial call as much as a legal one.
Our trademark search and clearance team works through that split before anything is filed, and what can be trademarked in Nepal covers the wider question of what is registrable.
What if a similar software mark is published?
You get 90 days from the date the mark appears in the Industrial Property Bulletin. After that the window closes and your options narrow to slower, costlier routes.
Ninety days sounds generous until you remember nobody emails you. Someone has to read each new issue against your brand.
If a confusingly similar name turns up in Class 42 or Class 9, our opposition and enforcement team can assess the record and file inside the window.
Common mistakes
- Filing "software services" and nothing more. A vague description invites an objection and protects less than you think.
- Copying an old class list. Plenty of sites still show a Class 42 heading that ends in "legal services". That wording is years out of date.
- Treating the app as covered. Class 42 does not reach downloadable software. If customers install it, you need Class 9 as well.
- Assuming an overseas registration travels. Nepal is outside the Madrid System, so protection comes from filing here, with a Paris Convention priority claim where it applies.
- Waiting for launch. Nepal rewards the earlier valid filing, not the earlier user. A public beta is exactly when someone else can see your name.
- Forgetting the mark has to be used. Sec. 18C lets the DoI cancel a registration not put into use within a year.
- Thinking a trademark covers the code. It does not — that is a copyright question, and a new technical method may be a patent question.
In short
Class 42 is where the Nice Classification puts SaaS, PaaS, programming, software design, hosting, IT support, quality control, research and most design work.
In Nepal the DoI applies the same class list, takes one application per class, and gives rights on registration rather than on use. Write the description in Nice wording, decide early whether Class 9 or Class 35 also applies, and file before the product is public.
If the 45-class system is new to you, start with how the classes work and then how to choose the right one.
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If you are weighing Class 42 against Class 9 for the same brand, the answer usually turns on how customers reach your software rather than on what it does. Our team can map your product to the right classes and file them at the DoI through trademark registration — contact us to talk it through.
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