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When to file DBA name vs. Trademark

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mhsu408purchase

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I am starting my company and am going to register my fictitious business name. The only thing is that I am unsure about the timing of when to do the fictitious name filing vs. the trademark filing.

It seems like it makes more sense to do the trademark filing first because the fictitious name filing requires newspaper publication (which means that my name will be public) and it seems that it would be safer to have the trademark app filed prior to having my name publicized in the newspaper as a requirement of getting the fictitious name.

Is there a preferred order on which should get filed first ("filed", when talking about the trademark, meaning when the app should be filed versus getting the actual trademark)? Thanks!
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
They are completely UNRELATED events. You need to file the DBA prior to doing business under that name. You can apply for registration for the mark as long as you are using it commerce or you have a bona fide intent to do so. Still you get trademark rights by use in commerce even without (or before) getting registration.

Your name is going to be used in public for the DBA because absent a corporate entity, you must disclose the fiction going on. There's no "novelty" criteria for trademarks, I'm not sure what your concerns are.
 

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