For that matter, what about fictitious names, dbas and trade
names?
Recently, I've talked to a number of small business owners
who have interesting and profitable businesses. These
businesses range from mechanics, to pastry stores, to musical
bands. Recently, I've begun asking for more detail as to
what these businesses actually were. This discussion always
leads to confusion because many people do not know.
The easiest way to explain the differences between trademarks,
business names, fictitious names, dbas, and trade names is to
divide them into two groups:
- Business names, fictitious names, dbas, and trade names.
Whenever someone does business as something other than as
his/her own name, states require registration of that business name
as well as identification of the owner before they can conduct
business in that state. This requirement makes sense because
it creates a record of who really runs a business in each state and
where how can be located.
