Register a DBA in New York

What the law requires

New York prohibits carrying on business under any name other than the person's real name unless a certificate of assumed name is filed. Individuals and partnerships file in the office of the clerk of each county where the business is conducted; corporations, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies file with the secretary of state (Department of State).

"No person shall hereafter (i) carry on or conduct or transact business in this state under any name or designation other than his or its real name, or (ii) carry on or conduct or transact business in this state as a member of a partnership, unless: (a) Such person, if other than a corporation, limited partnership or limited liability company, shall file in the office of the clerk of each county in which such business is conducted or transacted a certificate setting forth the name or designation under which and the address within the county at which such business is conducted or transacted, the full name or names of the person or persons conducting or transacting the same..." — N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 130(1)

Where filings go

Split by entity type: persons other than corporations, LPs, and LLCs file with the clerk of each county where business is conducted; corporations, LPs, and LLCs file with the secretary of state (Department of State), which transmits county copies and fees to the affected county clerks.

"(b) Such person, if a corporation, limited partnership or limited liability company, shall file, together with the fees as set forth in subdivision five of this section, in the office of the secretary of state a certificate setting forth the name or designation under which business is carried on or conducted or transacted, its corporate, limited partnership or limited liability company name, the location including number and street, if any, of its principal place of business in the state, the name of each county in which it does business or intends to do business..." — N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 130(1)(a)-(b)

How long it lasts

Section 130 states no expiration date or renewal period for an assumed name certificate. An amended certificate must be filed within 30 days after a change in the stated facts, and a certificate of discontinuance may be filed when the business is discontinued. Renewal: None stated in § 130; amendments within 30 days of a change (§ 130(3)); certificate of discontinuance on discontinuance (§ 130(10))

"Whenever a certificate which has been filed under this section does not accurately set forth the facts required by this section, or within thirty days after there has been a change in such facts, an amended certificate shall be filed which shall identify the original certificate and incorporate the corrections or changes." — N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 130(3), (10)

Name restrictions

Individuals, partnerships, and unincorporated associations may not use or file a certificate for a name that consists of or appears to be another person's full name or initials-plus-family-name (or colorable simulation) unless it is the true name of a person conducting the business, has a signified secondary, historic, or geographic meaning, or the filers are successors in interest. Entities may not use words prohibited or restricted by the Business Corporation Law, Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, Partnership Law, or LLC Law name statutes without required consents. Separately, § 133 prohibits assumed or trade names used with intent to deceive or mislead the public.

"No individual, partnership, or unincorporated association shall hereafter use or file a certificate for the use of any name or designation to carry on or conduct or transact business in this state which consists of or includes words, or initials and a word or words, which are or appear to be the full name or names, or the initial or initials and family name of a person or persons, or a colorable simulation thereof, unless: (1) the words or initials and word or words appearing to be the full name or initials and family name of a person included, are the true full name or the initials and family name of the person or one of the persons conducting the business..." — N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 130(2); § 133

Entities and assumed names

Entities adopting assumed names file under GBL § 130(1)(b) with the Department of State. Separately, a foreign corporation whose true corporate name is not acceptable for authorization may submit a fictitious name in its application for authority under BCL § 1301(d), and must then use that fictitious name in all dealings with the secretary of state and in conducting business in New York; GBL § 130 does not apply to such a fictitious name.

"A foreign corporation whose corporate name is not acceptable for authorization pursuant to sections 301 and 302 of this chapter, may submit in its application for authority pursuant to section 1304 of this chapter, a fictitious name under which it shall do business in this state... The provisions of section one hundred thirty of the general business law shall not apply to any fictitious name filed by a foreign corporation pursuant to this section, and a filing under section one hundred thirty of the general business law shall not constitute the adoption of a fictitious name." — N.Y. Bus. Corp. Law § 1301(d)