Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello everyone,

I just found this site today, what a great resource for entrepreneurs!

I have done a search at my local county clerks office to see if the name I want to use for my business is registered and in use.  It is not.  But...I am forming and LLC, and someone told me that in California, you can not have two LLCs with the same name, even if they are in different counties and different businesses.  So here`s my question- can I in fact use one name (the `legal` name) on the LLC form, and do business under another?  And if so, do I need to register the `business` name with any state agency? 

Sorry if this is a silly question, I`m new to this, so thanks for your patience! 

The question is - do you want to be using the same name?

Does this other place already have claim to the yourname.com domain name?

Are people going to look for one and find the other?

Is the existence of the other hurt or help you?

Are you breaking any trademarks they may have?

RUBY2Stay,
In the state of California you can not have two LLC`s with the same name even if they are in two different counties. Remember the LLC is registered at a State level and not with the county.

So the LLC name has to be unique, that is why when you file for an LLC or corporation they ask you for three Business Names:
1. Your first choice is what you want to name your business
and two extras with alternates in case your first choice of business name is taken.

Now to answer your second question, yes you can name your LLC or Corporation a different name and still do business under another.
Let me give you an example:
Let`s say you name your LLC "xyz LLC" but you want to do business under a ficticious name of "fortune cookies express", all you need to do is go to the county that you live in and apply for an FBN or also known as a DBA Filing "doing business as".
All you need is your LLC`s Articles (I don`t know if an LLC has articles of Incorporation) but if they do, you bring that with you to the county registrar and fill a simple self explanatory form.

If you don`t want to go through all that hassle you can use this company www.filedba.com they will do everything from standing in line to putting it on the newspaper for you. be aware that in the state of California you have to advertise your DBA filing on the newspaper for 30 days and then go back and show them proof.

MY advice to you is, if you want to save time use filedba they are reliable and you never have to go down to the County registrar.

I`m not sure which county you live in, but in Los Angeles County the fees are as follow : $23.00 for the filing plus one registrant and $4.00 for each additional dba or registrant, in your case since you are going to register the dba under your LLC it would be: $23.00 and 1 registrant being the LLC.

I hope this helps you



-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

Thank you, this has been a tremendous help to me!