Argentina In
Argentina, a trade name is known as a
nombre de fantasía ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called a
razón social (social name).
Brazil In
Brazil, a trade name is known as a
nome fantasia ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called
razão social (social name).
Canada In some
Canadian jurisdictions, such as
Ontario, when a businessperson writes a trade name on a contract, invoice, or cheque, they must also add the legal name of the business.
Numbered companies will very often operate as something other than their legal name, which is unrecognizable to the public.
Chile In
Chile, a trade name is known as a
nombre de fantasía ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called a
razón social (social name).
Ireland In
Ireland, businesses are legally required to register business names where these differ from the surname(s) of the sole trader or partners, or the legal name of a company. The
Companies Registration Office publishes a searchable register of such business names.
Japan In
Japan, the word is used.
Kenya Nigeria In
Colonial Nigeria, certain tribes had members that used a variety of trading names to conduct business with the Europeans. Two examples were King
Perekule VII of
Bonny, who was known as
Captain Pepple in trade matters, and King
Jubo Jubogha of
Opobo, who bore the pseudonym
Captain Jaja. Both Pepple and Jaja would bequeath their trade names to their royal descendants as official
surnames upon their deaths.
Singapore In
Singapore, there is no filing requirement for a "trading as" name, but there are requirements for disclosure of the underlying business or company's registered name and unique entity number.
United Kingdom In the
United Kingdom, there is no filing requirement for a
business name, defined as "any name under which someone carries on business" that, for a company or limited liability partnership, "is not its registered name", but there are requirements for disclosure of the owner's true name and some restrictions on the use of certain names and
sensitive words, and there are also regulations concerning disclosure of the
company name (the legal name of the company) for a company, the name of the owner for a sole trader, or the names of the partners for a partnership. The
Office for Students, the higher education regulator for England, uses the term
trading name in the register of higher education providers, and requires these to be registered. The
Charity Commission of England and Wales uses the terms
working name and
operating name on the register of charities, with the term
working name being used in the
Charities Act 2011 (as amended by the Charities Act 2022). The term
operating name is also used for government agencies.
United States A minority of U.S. states, including
Washington, still use the term
trade name to refer to "doing business as" (DBA) names. In most U.S. states now, however, DBAs are officially referred to using other terms. Almost half of the states, including
New York and
Oregon, use the terms
assumed business name or
assumed name; nearly as many, including
Pennsylvania, use the term
fictitious name. For
consumer protection purposes, many U.S. jurisdictions require businesses operating with fictitious names to file a DBA statement, though names including the first and last name of the owner may be accepted. This also reduces the possibility of two local businesses operating under the same name, although some jurisdictions do not provide exclusivity for a name, or may allow more than one party to register the same name. Note, though, that this is not a substitute for filing a
trademark application. A DBA filing carries no legal weight in establishing trademark rights. In the U.S., trademark rights are acquired by use in commerce, but there can be substantial benefits to filing a trademark application.
Sole proprietors are the most common users of DBAs. Sole proprietors are individual business owners who run their businesses themselves. Since most people in these circumstances use a business name other than their own name, it is often necessary for them to get DBAs. Generally, a DBA must be registered with a local or state government, or both, depending on the jurisdiction. For example, California, Texas and Virginia require a DBA to be registered with each county (or
independent city in the case of Virginia) where the owner does business. Maryland and Colorado have DBAs registered with a state agency. Virginia also requires corporations and LLCs to file a copy of their registration with the county or city to be registered with the State Corporation Commission. DBA statements are often used in conjunction with a
franchise. The franchisee will have a legal name under which it may sue and be sued, but will conduct business under the franchiser's
brand name (which the public would recognize). A typical real-world example can be found in a well-known pricing
mistake case,
Donovan v. RRL Corp. (2001), where the named defendant, RRL Corporation, was a Lexus
car dealership doing business as "
Lexus of
Westminster", but remaining a separate legal entity from Lexus, a division of
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. In
California, filing a DBA statement also requires that a notice of the fictitious name be published as a
public legal notice in local
newspapers for some set period to inform the public of the owner's intent to operate under an
assumed name. The intention of the law is to protect the public from fraud, by compelling the business owner to first file or register his fictitious business name with the county clerk, and then making a further public record of it by publishing it in a newspaper. Several other states, such as
Illinois, require print notices as well.
Uruguay In
Uruguay, a trade name is known as a
nombre fantasía, and the legal name of business is called a
razón social. ==See also==