Judgment Collection And Fictitious Business Names
Copyright (c) 2014 Mark Shapiro
Fictitious names (and trade names, DBS names, or assumed names) are all assumed business names. Different than independent entity, a DBA name is not separate from the individual who owns the DBA (Doing Business As) name, which means it has no lawsuit or judgment protection for an owner of the DBA name.
This is one of my many judgment-related: I'm a Judgment referral expert, not a lawyer. This article is only my opinion based on my long term experiences, please hire a lawyer when you require legal advice.
Fictitious names is not your own name, or your partner's name, or mandatorily a registered name of your corporation or LLC. The DBA name of your business is not as important as what you do in your business.
Bing, Yahoo, and Google used to be names for different things, it took many years of hard work and lots of money and brilliance; that resulted in those names now standing primarily for search engines for the internet. Of course, the majority of folks will choose a DBA name related to their skills or business. After you register your name, you will probably put your business efforts only in that name.
One can usually do business with your own name and will not need any fictitious business names. Not every state mandate the filing of DBAs or fictitious business names.
When you settle on a name for your DBA business, you'll have to file the name with the appropriate government authority as a fictitious business name, also called Doing Business As (DBA). In addition to people, partnerships, corporations, sole proprietors, and LLCs (and even more entities) might wish to do their their business under their DBA name.
An assumed business names needs to be be registered at the local government office. Sometimes existing DBAs change names, and will then need to register their new name. Unless one chooses a business name and registers the name as a proper fictitious name or a DBA, the name of the business legally will be the entity or person owning that fictitious name.
As an example, Mr. James Jammer starts a computer hardware consulting company. Instead of running business in his own name, James runs his business as "James Jammer Consulting". This is a fictitious name, and James will need to register his fictitious name with the appropriate government office.
No matter what business name you choose, be sure its not currently being used by someone else. Is your name the same as an existing domain name? You may also try the WHOIS database of domain names. It is also a good policy to register your proposed DBA name early on social media web sites. What will the name look on the web, social media sites, and as part of your company logo?
Filing a DBA or fictitious business name doesn't provide any trademark protection. Before you register your fictitious business or DBA name, check with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office's trademark searching web tool; and check whether your proposed name or some variation of your name, is already trademarked. If so, pick a new name. It's not very expensive to buy trademark registration, which protects words, names, logos, and symbols, that identifies goods and services.
If you intend to incorporate your company, you'll have to contact your state filing office, to check whether your proposed business name is already being used. If you find some business operating under your planned name, you might still be permitted to use your name, if your business and that already existing company offers different goods/services and/or are located in another state.
The DBA name/fictitious name of your business will be needed for all government applications and forms, including tax returns, employer tax IDs, licenses, and permits.
About the Author
Mark D. Shapiro - Judgment Referral Expert - http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - where Judgments get Recovered.
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here