Arizona trade name filing guide

Arizona calls this filing a trade name registration, and the Arizona Commerce Authority explains that a trade name is sometimes referred to as a business name, a fictitious name, or a DBA, short for doing business as.

Title 44, Chapter 10, Article 3.1, sections 44-1460 through 44-1460.07, under which any person, partnership, corporation, firm, association, society, foundation, federation, or organization doing business in the state, and any foreign corporation licensed here, may register the name, title, or designation under which it operates with the Arizona Secretary of State.

The key word is may: the Commerce Authority states that trade name registration is not legally required in Arizona but is a recommended business practice, so unlike many states, Arizona has no mandatory assumed-name filing for any entity type.

There is also no split between state and county filing for the state registration — the Secretary of State handles all trade name applications.

The Commerce Authority additionally notes that a certificate of fictitious name, primarily for DBA purposes, can be filed with a county recorder's office, and that corporations and LLCs already on file with the Arizona Corporation Commission do not need to register their corporate name as a trade name because names are cross-referenced between the two agencies.

Registration is made with the Arizona Secretary of State, Business Services Division, on a form furnished by the Secretary of State, as A.R.S. § 44-1460 provides.

The application must set forth the name and email and business address of the applicant (and the state of incorporation if the applicant is a corporation), the name, title, or designation to be registered, the general nature of the business, the length of time the name has been used in the applicant's Arizona operations, and a statement that the applicant has conducted a search and found the name distinguishable on the record from names previously filed with the Secretary of State and from existing or reserved corporate names.

The applicant, or a member or officer of the organization, signs the application, and a single name may be registered on each application.

Under A.R.S. § 41-126, the fee for filing an application for registration or renewal of a trade name, or recording an assignment, is no more than ten dollars.

The Commerce Authority lists the mailing address as Trade Name/Trademark, 1700 W. Washington Street, 7th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2808, and in-person filing at the State Capitol Executive Tower, 1700 W. Washington Street, Suite 220, Phoenix, or at the Arizona State Complex Building, 400 W. Congress, First Floor, Suite 141, Tucson.

§ 44-1460.06 also permits documents under the article to be filed in an electronic format approved by the Secretary of State.

A trade name registration is effective for a term of five years from the date of registration.

To keep it, the registrant files a renewal application within six months prior to the expiration of the term, on a form furnished by the Secretary of State, and the registration may be renewed at the end of each five-year period for a like term; the statute directs the Secretary of State to notify registrants by mail within the sixty days preceding expiration.

The renewal application carries the same statutory fee wording as an original registration — no more than ten dollars.

It does allow a registered name and its registration to be assigned by a written instrument recorded with the Secretary of State, who then issues a new certificate in the assignee's name for the remainder of the term (A.R.S. § 44-1460.07 provides that the Secretary of State shall cancel a trade name registration on a voluntary request for cancellation from the registrant or the assignee of record, and also if the registration is not renewed, if a court orders cancellation, or if it was obtained fraudulently.

Start with the free official self-filing path: read A.R.S. §§ 44-1460 through 44-1460.07 on the Arizona Legislature's website and the Arizona Commerce Authority's trade name checklist item, then complete the Secretary of State's trade name application and submit it by mail to the Business Services Division in Phoenix or in person at the Phoenix or Tucson offices the Commerce Authority lists, budgeting the statutory fee of no more than ten dollars.

Before applying, search the Secretary of State's records and confirm the name is distinguishable from names already on file and from existing or reserved corporate names, because the Secretary of State cannot file an application that fails that test.

If your corporation or LLC name is already on file with the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Commerce Authority says a separate trade name registration for that name is not necessary.