Register a DBA in Wisconsin

Registration is voluntary

A DBA (fictitious or assumed business name) lets you operate, bank, and advertise under a trade name. Below: who must file in Wisconsin, where, for how long, and what happens if you don't — quoted from the statutes.

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Filing office

Voluntary mark/trade-name registrations under ch. 132 are filed with 'the department,' which the chapter defines as the Department of Financial Institutions. The narrow mandatory § 134.17 statement is recorded with the register of deeds of the county in which the filer's principal place of business is located.

Term & renewal

A ch. 132 registration recorded on or after May 1, 1990 is effective for 10 years.

Publication

No newspaper publication requirement found in the act.

Exclusive rights?

No — registration does not by itself grant exclusive rights to the name. A trademark does that.

Wisconsin filing fees

Original or renewal registration of a mark, or recording of an assignment (Department of Financial Institutions)

Wis. Stat. § 132.01(3)

$15

Statutory amounts are as printed in the statute; agencies may adjust them by fee schedule.

State and county fees are set by law, never discounted, and collected with your order.

Who must file in Wisconsin

Business type	Required?	Where
Sole proprietors and general partnerships operating under an assumed or trade name	No	No general filing required; voluntary registration of a mark (including a trade name) is available with the Department of Financial Institutions
Persons doing mercantile or commission business under a corporate-appearing name with the intent to obtain credit	Yes	Register of deeds of the county in which the principal place of business is located
Foreign corporations whose corporate name is not available in Wisconsin	Yes	Department of Financial Institutions (filing a certified board resolution adopting a fictitious name)

The law behind it

Quoted verbatim from Trademarks, Badges and Labeled Products (Wis. Stat. ch. 132) - voluntary mark/trade-name registration (Wis. Stat. § 132.01; Wis. Stat. § 134.17).

What the law requires

Wisconsin has no general mandatory DBA/assumed-name registration act. What exists is voluntary: any person, firm, partnership or corporation 'may file' a mark - statutorily defined to include a trade name - for record with the Department of Financial Institutions under Wis. Stat. § 132.01. A narrow mandatory county-level recording duty survives in § 134.17 for anyone doing mercantile or commission business under a name 'purporting or appearing to be a corporate name, with the intent to obtain credit' without disclosing the owners' real names.

"Any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association, or union of workingmen, which has heretofore adopted or used or shall hereafter adopt or use any mark for the purpose of designating, making known, or distinguishing any goods, wares, merchandise, service, business, or other product of labor or manufacture ... may file an original, a copy, or photographs, or cuts with specifications of the same for record with the department" — Wis. Stat. § 132.01(1)

Where filings go

""Department" means the department of financial institutions." — Wis. Stat. § 132.001(1m); § 134.17(1)

How long it lasts

A ch. 132 registration recorded on or after May 1, 1990 is effective for 10 years. Renewal: Renewable for 10-year periods; application for renewal must be made within 6 months before expiration, with the same fee as an original registration.

"A registration recorded under this section or s. 132.04 or 132.11 on or after May 1, 1990, is effective for 10 years. A registration may be renewed for 10-year periods upon application to the department and payment of the same fee required for a registration. Application for renewal shall be made within 6 months before the expiration of the 10-year period specified in this paragraph." — Wis. Stat. § 132.01(6)(b)

Name restrictions

The department may not register a mark that replicates or simulates governmental flags, coats of arms or insignia; the applicant must also swear that no other person has the right to the same mark in identical form or deceptive near-resemblance.

"The department may not register any mark which consists of or comprises a replica or simulation of the flag, coat of arms, or insignia of the United States of America, or of any state or municipality or any foreign nation." — Wis. Stat. § 132.01(5)

Entities and assumed names

Wisconsin's Business Corporation Law supplies the entity-side name-conflict mechanism: a foreign corporation whose corporate name is not available in Wisconsin may transact business under a fictitious name by delivering a certified board resolution adopting it to the department, and the fictitious name must be distinguishable on the department's records. A foreign corporation without a certificate of authority may also register its name or such a fictitious name under § 180.0403.

"If the corporate name of a foreign corporation is not available under sub. (2), the foreign corporation, to obtain or maintain a certificate of authority to transact business in this state, may use a fictitious name to transact business in this state if it delivers to the department for filing a copy of the resolution of its board of directors, certified by any of its officers, adopting the fictitious name." — Wis. Stat. § 180.1506(1)

Statutory text quoted from the official published statutes; dataset last regenerated 2026-09-09. Read the full code at the Wisconsin statutes. This is information, not legal advice — laws change.

If you skip it

Doing or advertising mercantile or commission business under a corporate-appearing name with intent to obtain credit, without first recording the verified true-name statement with the county register of deeds, is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year in county jail. (Wis. Stat. § 134.17(1))

Adopting and advertising a business under a corporate-form name that does not disclose the persons behind it is itself legal evidence that the name was adopted for the purpose of obtaining credit. (Wis. Stat. § 134.18)

Procuring a mark filing by false or fraudulent representations creates liability for resulting damages and is punishable by imprisonment up to 6 months or a fine up to $10,000, or both. (Wis. Stat. § 132.032)

Wisconsin DBA FAQs

Does Wisconsin require a DBA filing for a sole proprietor or partnership?

No general Wisconsin statute requires one. Registration under Wis. Stat. § 132.01 is voluntary - the statute says a person 'may file' a mark for record with the Department of Financial Institutions, and the chapter's definition of 'mark' includes a trade name. One narrow exception: § 134.17 requires anyone doing mercantile or commission business under a corporate-appearing name, with intent to obtain credit, to first record a verified true-name statement with the county register of deeds.

How long does a Wisconsin trade-name (mark) registration last and what does it cost?

A registration recorded on or after May 1, 1990 is effective for 10 years and may be renewed for 10-year periods; the renewal application must be made within 6 months before expiration (Wis. Stat. § 132.01(6)(b)). The statute sets the fee at $15 for an original or renewal registration or the recording of an assignment (§ 132.01(3)).

Does registering a trade name in Wisconsin give exclusive rights to the name?

Not by itself. The registration certificate is 'prima facie evidence' of adoption of the mark (Wis. Stat. § 132.031), and § 132.033(5)(f) makes it a defense to an infringement suit that the defendant acquired rights in an identical mark under common law or federal law before the registration.

What happens if a foreign corporation's name is already taken in Wisconsin?

Under Wis. Stat. § 180.1506(1), a foreign corporation whose corporate name is not available may use a fictitious name to transact business in Wisconsin by delivering to the department a copy of a board resolution, certified by an officer, adopting the fictitious name. The fictitious name must be distinguishable on the department's records from other registered names.

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