Even if you register your business name with your location, you may still need to register to get licenses and permits for your particular type of business. For example, if you sell food, you must obtain a permit from the Ministry of Health. A brand is a more important step that is identified with the establishment of brand awareness in the market. A trademark can be associated with your trade name or be part of your trade name and can be used to legally protect the use of company names, logos, symbols or slogans. Two examples of easily recognizable brands are Nike`s swoosh symbol and Coca-Cola`s “Coca-Cola,” written in its distinctive font. Brands are easy to recognize because they are accompanied by the brand symbol. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming do not require you to register your name with the state. ™ When registering a trademark, you or your business can register the trademark directly, or you can choose to hire a lawyer who handles intellectual property law or trademark registration for you. When an IP attorney takes over the registration, they provide additional assurance that the registration is done correctly and completely, and that a thorough investigation has been conducted to verify that the trademark has not already been registered by another person or company. To choose the perfect name for your business, you should: You`ve probably heard the term “business name” and you`re probably wondering what a “fictitious name” is and why you need it for your business.

You`ll see different ways to talk about your company name, and they can be confusing. Although the registration of a trade name does not offer legal protection, as is the case for the registration of a trademark, the choice of a trade name must still be made with care. That`s because it`s the first step in establishing an identity for your business in the marketplace. As mentioned above, registering a trade name doesn`t give you trademark rights – it`s a separate process. In most states, some sort of registration is required for a DBA. It may be necessary to register your name with the state, county, and city where you do business. Some states even require you to get permission for the name and then use it in a print publication, and some have rules based on the type of business. The district agent where you do business is a good place to start. The main advantage of a DBA is that it allows a sole proprietor or partnership to do business with a typical business name such as Eveready Plumbing (example above) without the need to form a separate legal entity. A business name could make it easier for potential customers to identify with the company and what it does. A trade name can also be called a Doing Business (DBA) name. That`s the name the public sees.

Think of it as your company`s nickname. Businesses can use their trade name or DBA for marketing and sales purposes instead of their legal trade name to attract more customers. Small businesses with a presence in e-commerce may be responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax to multiple states. If a business owner wants to operate under a name other than the legal name of the business, they can use a business name instead. Typically, a company has both a legal business name and a trade name. Legal, as we have already mentioned, appears on legal documents and government forms. On the other hand, a trade name usually appears on ads and signs. Access all of your corporate credit scores and reports, including the FICO SBSS – the score used to pre-select SBA loans. We make it easy for you to register your DBA. We take care of all state, regional and, in some cases, urban requirements when a company plans to use a name and ensure that the publication requirements for the appropriate jurisdictions are met. If your business ends up with an “Inc.” or “LLC,” you may find that you drop those letters when you advertise or talk about your business. To protect yourself and your company name and to comply with legal requirements, you will need to complete additional documentation to cover all the names you use.

You are looking for a business in Huntsville and my home state A legal entity or company name is the one used to register the company with a state. A trade name may differ from the legal name under which the company was registered due to the status of the company. For example, a company could be incorporated as “XYZ Holdings” and operate under the trade name “Alphabet Productions, Inc.” For example, Dave Holtan founded a limited liability company to sell books on the Internet. The name of the LLC is Holtan Enterprises and it is the name it uses in the EIN application and the company`s bylaws. A company name is the legal name of your company. This is the official name of the person or entity that owns a business. And that`s the name you use on your government forms and business records. .