The official term documented here is fictitious business name.
Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptFiling fee: $40.00. Publish once a week for four consecutive weeks; first publication must begin within 45 days after filing.
Santa Clara County uses the California term “fictitious business name.”
Its verified rule places a person or entity regularly doing business for profit under such a name with the clerk of the principal-place-of-business county.
Sole proprietors, general partnerships, LLCs, and corporations each have a row leading to that office, although the present evidence leaves the binary required field unstated.
That distinction prevents a broad who-files description from becoming an unsupported conclusion about every possible name.
Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptEvery person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.
The county record supplies a $40.00 fee, a five-year general duration, later-change language, and newspaper milestones.
Effective duration: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Renewal: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Changes or amendments: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Abandonment or cancellation: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Who must file: Every person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptEvery person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.
Important exclusions: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Mail filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
In-person filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
general partnership
Required: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Effective duration: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Renewal: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Changes or amendments: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Abandonment or cancellation: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Who must file: Every person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptEvery person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.
Important exclusions: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Mail filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
In-person filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
llc
Required: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Effective duration: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Renewal: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Changes or amendments: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Abandonment or cancellation: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Who must file: Every person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptEvery person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.
Important exclusions: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Mail filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
In-person filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
corporation
Required: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Effective duration: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Renewal: A fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA fictitious business name statement generally expires five years from the date it was filed.
Changes or amendments: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Abandonment or cancellation: A new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
Who must file: Every person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptEvery person or entity regularly transacting business for profit under a fictitious business name files in the county of its principal place of business.
Important exclusions: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Mail filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
In-person filing: Research is still pending; no answer is asserted.
Why this local filing matters
The county layer is essential here: the supported who-files rule follows the principal place of business, and the relevant clerk for a Santa Clara location is the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder.
Those county-specific facts should be checked against Santa Clara’s live instructions, not inferred from another California locality whose price or portal happens to look similar.
Unlike a fee phrase that expressly includes a certain number of names or owners, this verified value gives no such unit, so the page does not promise what the amount covers.
A visitor should obtain both directly from Santa Clara County and should not reuse a PDF, checkout screen, or office address belonging to another recorder.
Select the entity row that reflects the business’s legal structure; each currently points to the same local authority and repeats the same supported operational facts.
Keep the filing date, publication schedule, and any proof received as separate records: the five-year certificate duration and four-week newspaper run describe different processes and should never be merged into one date.
Required: YesSource: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptFiling fee: $40.00. Publish once a week for four consecutive weeks; first publication must begin within 45 days after filing.
Ask for the fictitious-business-name procedure, validate the displayed charge against the supported $40.00 amount, and follow the county’s current submission instructions.
Once the statement is filed, use the accepted filing date to manage two clocks: publication must begin within 45 days and recur weekly for four consecutive weeks, while the statement generally reaches expiration five years after filing.
If circumstances change, determine whether the county treats it as a qualifying change requiring a new statement.
Source: clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov official record · retrieved Supporting excerptA new statement is required after expiration or a qualifying change; abandonment has its own statement and publication path.
If the name is abandoned, use that separate statement and its publication path.