A trade name , trading name , or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name . Registering the fictitious name with a relevant government body is often required.
23-859: Western Power Distribution is a trade name formerly used by four electricity distribution companies in the United Kingdom: WPD South West (operating in South West England ), WPD South Wales (in South Wales ) and WPD Midlands (two companies, in the East Midlands and West Midlands ). Each company was the distribution network operator for its respective region. Western Power Distribution, which had headquarters in Bristol , served approximately 7.7 million customers in its combined distribution areas. In 2022
46-420: 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
69-467: 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
92-476: 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. 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). In Ireland , businesses are legally required to register business names where these differ from
115-412: A numbered company with a doing business as registration to provide the numbered entity with a name. A common reason for this is a franchise , where the franchisee is a numbered company, doing business under the franchised identity. This may also be done for the convenience of lawyers, who create a shelf corporation or advent corporation and then assign the recognisable identity later. Although there
138-434: A simpler name rather than using their formal and often lengthier name. Trade names are also used when a preferred name cannot be registered, often because it may already be registered or is too similar to a name that is already registered. Using one or more fictitious business names does not create additional separate legal entities. The distinction between a registered legal name and a fictitious business name, or trade name,
161-580: A swap with National Grid in which it divested WPD and acquired Narragansett Electric of Rhode Island. The acquisition was completed in June 2021, and approved by the Competition and Markets Authority in September of that year. In September 2022, the company was renamed to National Grid Electricity Distribution. Trade name In a number of countries, the phrase " trading as " (abbreviated to t/a )
184-413: 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). 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). In some Canadian jurisdictions , such as Ontario , when a businessperson writes a trade name on
207-559: Is called a razón social . Numbered company A numbered company is a corporation given a generic name based on its sequentially assigned registration number. For instance, an entity incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and assigned the corporation number 1234567 would be entitled to register "1234567 Canada Inc." as its legal name. Similarly, in Australia, a company assigned
230-498: Is important because fictitious business names do not always identify the entity that is legally responsible . Legal agreements (such as contracts ) are normally made using the registered legal name of the business. If a corporation fails to consistently adhere to such important legal formalities like using its registered legal name in contracts, it may be subject to piercing of the corporate veil . In English , trade names are generally treated as proper nouns . In Argentina ,
253-523: Is no similar tradition of numbered companies in the United States, there is also nothing preventing a company there from adopting a number – even one different from its registration number – as the main part of its name. When two Canadian broadcasters jointly acquired U.S. radio station WLYK in 2023, they did so using a company named "1234567 Corporation", which was established under Delaware law with file number 7202907. This article about
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#1732793795259276-499: Is used to designate a trade name. In the United States , the phrase " doing business as " (abbreviated to DBA , dba , d.b.a. , or d/b/a ) is used, among others, such as assumed business name or fictitious business name . In Canada , " operating as " (abbreviated to o/a ) and " trading as " are used, although " doing business as " is also sometimes used. A company typically uses a trade name to conduct business using
299-477: The Australian Company Number 123 456 789 upon registration can have its legal name as "123 456 789 Pty Ltd ". Numbered companies may include, but are by no means limited to, new companies that have not yet determined a permanent brand identity, or shell companies used by much larger enterprises for various purposes. In some cases, a legitimately-active enterprise may be structured as
322-466: 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. A minority of U.S. states, including Washington , still use
345-514: The East and West Midlands) from E.ON for £3.5 billion and rebranded it as WPD Midlands. In May 2022, WPD made a £14.9 million voluntary redress payment after an investigation by industry regulator Ofgem found shortfalls in the company's implementation of its obligations to vulnerable customers. Western Power Distribution was a subsidiary of PPL for many years. In August 2020, PPL announced an intention to sell WPD. In March 2021, PPL announced
368-418: 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,
391-537: The company was absorbed into its new parent company, National Grid . In 1998, WPD South West was formed from the demerger of the electricity distribution arm of SWEB . In September 2000, the American energy company PPL Corporation purchased Hyder for £565m and sold Welsh Water and other interests, leaving the electricity distribution arm Infralec which was renamed WPD South Wales. In April 2011, PPL purchased Central Networks (the distribution network operator for
414-534: 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. , 26 Cal. 4th 261 (2001), where
437-402: 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. In Uruguay , a trade name is known as a nombre fantasía , and the legal name of business
460-461: 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 in local newspapers for some set period of time to inform the public of the owner's intent to operate under an assumed name . The intention of
483-459: 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. In Japan , the word yagō ( 屋号 ) is used. 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
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#1732793795259506-469: 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
529-553: 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. 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. In
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