Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Doing Business As

In order to do business under a name other than your entity's legal name, you need to file a fictitious business name statement (also referred to as a dba) with the county recorder. You will also need to publish in an approved newspaper (list supplied by county clerk). The process is quite easy and is usually explained by the filing clerk. The name also has to be renewed every few years, depending upon your county. If you want to pay a little extra, there are many services that will take care of the whole process for you.

Some counties have an online search system to determine if the name has already been registered by another party. Otherwise, you can normally search at the recorder's office.

Please note, this filing does not really give you any trademark rights beyond what you would normally have at common law. The best way to protect a name at the national level is to file a trademark application with the USPTO.

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Good luck!

Re: Doing Business As

Many small newspapers and some "shopping news" type papers are approved for publication of your DBA, and since they seek the ad revenue, they often supply the blank filing forms. Do not depend on their clerks for legal advice, however.

The clerks at the courthouse are likewise not supposed to give out legal advice, but they can be very helpful in steering you through the filing formalities if you ask politely when they aren't busy.

Detrmining whether a proposed business name infringes the rights of another is a much more difficult process. There is no complete register of all names in use and entitled to protection, and the question of whether one name actually infringes a similar one is very technical and the subject of frequent and expensive litigation.

Probably the best single source is the Patent and Trademark office on line at www.uspto.gov, and from there you try this and that until you locate their trademark database search interface.

Next best bet is to use Internet general-purpose search engines such as Alta Vista, Google and of course Dogpile.

The California Secretary of State maintains lists of corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships etc. in a consolidated data base which attorneys can access through WestLaw. I do not know if there is free on-line access; you might have to try their usually-busy phone line or drop by on your next trip to Sacramento.

The more famous a trademark is, the more closely the law protects it. Having a name similar to another small company in a distant state is unlikely to cause trademark problems unless you are in the same line of business. If you turn up a possible conflict, try to get a waiver from the other company. If in doubt, try another name.