{"id":134,"date":"2013-03-26T14:50:07","date_gmt":"2013-03-26T18:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harborcompliance.com\/blog\/?p=134"},"modified":"2023-09-15T14:58:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T18:58:06","slug":"pa-fictitious-name-registration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harborcompliance.com\/blog\/pa-fictitious-name-registration\/","title":{"rendered":"PA fictitious name registration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In my previous post, I explained 5 insidious myths surrounding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harborcompliance.com\/blog\/pennsylvania-fictitious-name-five-insidious-myths-debunked\/\">Pennsylvania fictitious names<\/a>.\u00a0 My position is that fictitious names are rarely the best option for small businesses.\u00a0 In certain cases however, registering a PA fictitious name is justified.\u00a0 The most common situation is the existing LLC or corporation that wishes to use a new business name but does not want to form a separate business entity.\u00a0 The business could be adding a brand or taking on an entirely new identity.<\/p>\n<p>This post outlines the key steps involved in completing a PA fictitious name registration.<\/p>\n<p><b>How do you register a PA fictitious name?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You would start by preparing the Application for Registration of Fictitious Name (Form 311) that you will submit to the Pennsylvania Department of State.\u00a0 The proposed fictitious name must be distinguishable from the names of all other registered business entities.\u00a0 You can perform a name availability search to check to see if the name is being used.<\/p>\n<p>Form 311 requires you to include the following information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A brief statement of the business activity.<\/li>\n<li>The address of the principal place of business.\u00a0 This must be a physical address.\u00a0 The state will reject any document that includes a PO Box only.<\/li>\n<li>The names and addresses of the individuals who have interest (ownership) in the business.\u00a0 If one or more business entities have interest, then information on those entities is required.<\/li>\n<li>A statement that the applicant is familiar with 54Pa.C.S. 332 and understands that filing a fictitious name does not create protections for the name.<\/li>\n<li>An optional statement that lists the names of agents authorized to amend, withdraw, or cancel the fictitious name registration.<\/li>\n<li>Signatures of all applicants.<\/li>\n<li>Any necessary government name approvals.\u00a0 Government name approvals are required to use certain words in the business name such as engineering, surveying, or architecture.<\/li>\n<li>Any necessary consents to appropriation of the name.\u00a0 These are required if the name is currently being used by another business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you have completed this form, send it in to the Corporations Bureau of the Pennsylvania Department of State along with a $70 payment.<\/p>\n<p><b>What are the publishing requirements?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania requires publishing notice of the PA fictitious name registration in two newspapers of general publication in your county.\u00a0 If available, one or both should be legal journals.\u00a0 You can publish your fictitious name before or after filing form 311.\u00a0 You should not submit your proofs of publication to the Department of State, but rather keep those proofs in your company records.<\/p>\n<p><b>What does PA fictitious name registration cost?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The filing fee for Form 311 is $70 and publishing costs are approximately $200 (varies by newspaper).<\/p>\n<p><b>How long does PA fictitious name registration take?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The state processes the fictitious name registration forms in approximately one week and sends back the filed documents in another week.\u00a0 Any errors in the forms that result in a rejection will prolong the process by at least several weeks.\u00a0 Publishing takes approximately two weeks.<\/p>\n<p><b>When can I begin using my business name?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Once the business name has been approved by the state, you have the authority to conduct business under that name.\u00a0 You can check the state\u2019s records after one week to see if your registration has been approved.<\/p>\n<p><b>How can I protect my business name?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Since a fictitious name registration does not protect the business name, it is important to consider registering a trademark.\u00a0 A trademark can be registered in different jurisdictions including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dos.state.pa.us\/portal\/server.pt\/community\/corporation_bureau\/12457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pennsylvania Department of State<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uspto.gov\/trademarks\/index.jsp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>What other registrations are required?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If you are just starting your business and haven\u2019t registered with any other government agencies, you may be responsible for other registrations including, but not limited to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Federal tax registration \u2013 applying for an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harborcompliance.com\/ein-online.php\">Employer Identification Number (EIN)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harborcompliance.com\/pennsylvania-tax-id.php\">Pennsylvania tax registration<\/a> \u2013 applying for state tax accounts<\/li>\n<li>Other federal, state, and local licenses or permits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To find out about your business registration requirements, please visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harborcompliance.com\/start-your-business.php\">Business Registration<\/a> page.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my previous post, I explained 5 insidious myths surrounding Pennsylvania fictitious names.\u00a0 My position is that fictitious names are rarely the best option for small businesses.\u00a0 In certain cases however, registering a PA fictitious name is justified.\u00a0 The most common situation is the existing LLC or corporation that wishes to use a new business name but does not want to form a separate business entity.\u00a0 The business could be adding a brand or taking on an entirely new identity.<\/p>\n<p>This post outlines the key steps involved in completing a PA fictitious name registration.<\/p>\n<p>How do you register a PA fictitious name?<\/p>\n<p>You would start by preparing the Application for Registration of Fictitious Name (Form 311) that you will submit to the Pennsylvania Department of State.\u00a0 The proposed fictitious name must be distinguishable from the names of all other registered business entities.\u00a0 You &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harborcompliance.com\/blog\/pa-fictitious-name-registration\/\">Read More<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-compliance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PA fictitious name registration | Harbor Compliance Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.harborcompliance.com\/blog\/pa-fictitious-name-registration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PA fictitious name registration | Harbor Compliance Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In my previous post, I explained 5 insidious myths surrounding Pennsylvania fictitious names.\u00a0 My position is that fictitious names are rarely the best option for small businesses.\u00a0 In certain cases however, registering a PA fictitious name is justified.\u00a0 The most common situation is the existing LLC or corporation that wishes to use a new business name but does not want to form a separate business entity.\u00a0 The business could be adding a brand or taking on an entirely new identity. This post outlines the key steps involved in completing a PA fictitious name registration. How do you register a PA fictitious name? You would start by preparing the Application for Registration of Fictitious Name (Form 311) that you will submit to the Pennsylvania Department of State.\u00a0 The proposed fictitious name must be distinguishable from the names of all other registered business entities.\u00a0 You ... 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