Register a DBA in Maryland

What the law requires

Maryland requires any person engaged in a mercantile, trading, or manufacturing business as an agent, or doing business or trading under any name other than the person's own name, to file a trade name certificate with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) before commencing operation of the business. It is a single statewide filing, not a county filing.

"Any person engaged in any mercantile, trading, or manufacturing business as an agent or doing business or trading under any designation, title, or name other than the person's own name, prior to commencing operation of the business, shall file with the Department a certificate: (1) In writing; (2) Affirmed or acknowledged under oath; and (3) Disclosing: (i) The true and correct names and addresses of the principal or owner of the business; (ii) The character and location of the business; (iii) The name, title, or designation under which the business is conducted; and (iv) The identification number assigned by the Department for the associated business." — Md. Code Ann., Corps. & Ass'ns § 1-406(a)

Where filings go

The State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). The article defines 'Department' as SDAT, and SDAT maintains an indexed public 'agency record' of all trade name certificates filed under § 1-406.

""Department" means the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. ... (d) (1) The Department of Assessments and Taxation shall maintain a public record, to be known as the "agency record". (2) The agency record shall record all certificates filed in accordance with this section, and the certificates shall be properly indexed." — Md. Code Ann., Corps. & Ass'ns §§ 1-101(k), 1-406(a), (d)

How long it lasts

A trade name certificate is effective for 5 years from the date it is filed. Renewal: Renewable for successive 5-year periods by filing a renewal application within the 6 months before the end of the current 5-year period; a renewal extends the certificate 5 years from the end of the previous period.

"(1) A certificate filed under this section is effective for a period of 5 years from the date the certificate is filed. (2) Every 5 years following the year in which a certificate is filed or renewed, a person who has filed or renewed a certificate under this section may renew the certificate by filing, within 6 months before the end of the 5-year period, an application for renewal in the manner that the Department requires by regulation. (3) A renewal application extends the certificate for 5 years from the end of the previous 5-year period." — Md. Code Ann., Corps. & Ass'ns § 1-406(f)

Name restrictions

The trade name is recorded under the entity-names subtitle (Title 1, Subtitle 5): a 'trade name filer' counts as an 'entity,' and an entity name must be distinguishable on SDAT's records from the names of entities organized or authorized in Maryland, reserved or registered names, and disclosed assumed names adopted by foreign entities. The subtitle also requires entity-indicator words (e.g., 'corporation,' 'incorporated,' 'LLC') to the entity types required to use them and bars names implying an unauthorized purpose.

"The name, title, or designation under which a business is conducted shall be recorded with the Department as provided in Subtitle 5 of this title. ... An entity name must be distinguishable upon the records of the Department from: (1) The entity name of an entity organized or authorized to transact business in the State; (2) An entity name reserved or registered under this subtitle; and (3) The disclosed assumed name adopted by a foreign entity authorized to transact business in this State." — Md. Code Ann., Corps. & Ass'ns §§ 1-406(b), 1-501(7), 1-502, 1-503, 1-504

Entities and assumed names

Maryland's foreign-entity name-conflict mechanism: SDAT may permit a foreign corporation whose name is prohibited by the names subtitle to register or qualify in Maryland if it agrees to transact business only under a 'disclosed assumed name' that meets the subtitle's requirements and to use that assumed name in all dealings with SDAT and in its Maryland affairs. Corporations must record their names with SDAT under Title 1, Subtitle 5, and a foreign entity's disclosed assumed name blocks later confusing names under § 1-504(3).

"(a) A corporation shall record its name with the Department as provided in Title 1, Subtitle 5 of this article. (b) The Department may permit a foreign corporation that has a name prohibited by Title 1, Subtitle 5 of this article to register or qualify to do business in this State, if the foreign corporation agrees: (1) To transact business in this State only under a disclosed assumed name that meets the requirements of Title 1, Subtitle 5 of this article; and (2) To use the assumed name in all of its dealings with the Department and the conduct of its affairs in this State." — Md. Code Ann., Corps. & Ass'ns § 2-106