Fictitious Business Names

In California, unless you do business in your own legal name, you must register the name you are using as a fictitious name. You must also register if you are using your own name, but in some manner implying that others may also be involved in your business. Even if your business is a corporation, you must register if you are using a name that is different from your corporate name. There are also certain words and abbreviations that you may not use. For example, unless your business is incorporated, you cannot use the words "corporation" or "incorporated", nor the abbreviations "corp." or "inc." Similarly, unless your business is a limited liability company, you cannot use the words "limited liability company", nor the abbreviations "Ltd.", "Co.", "LLC", or "LC."

How to File

To operate under a fictitious name, you must file a Fictitious Business Name Statement with the clerk of the county in which you have your principal place of business. This must be done within forty days after you begin doing business. A registration is good for five years, and must be renewed by filing a new Fictitious Business Name Statement before the current one expires. Within thirty days of filing, you must publish your Fictitious Business Name Statement for four weeks in a row in a local newspaper.