How to Get a DBA in Alabama: Filing, Costs, and Renewal

To get a DBA in Alabama, file an Application to Register or Renew Trademark, Service Mark or Trade Name with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Trademarks Division, submit three specimens showing the name in actual use, and pay a $30 filing fee.¹ Alabama calls a DBA a “trade name,” handles the whole process at the state level, and keeps your registration valid for five years.

Check the Name Before You File

Confirm the name isn’t already taken before you spend time on an application. The Secretary of State keeps a Business Entity Search tool covering registered business names and trade names.² Search your exact name and any close variations; a confusingly similar name will likely be rejected.

Also check the federal database. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office runs a free trademark search at tmsearch.uspto.gov. An Alabama registration won’t protect you against someone who already holds a federal trademark on the same name, and using one anyway could draw an infringement claim no matter what your state paperwork says.

What You Need Before Filing

Alabama’s statute spells out what the application has to contain.³ Gather these before you sit down with the form:

Your name and business address. Corporations include their state of incorporation.
A description of the goods, services, or business the name will be used for, and how it will appear in use (signage, packaging, website, and so on).
The date you first used the name anywhere, and the date you first used it in Alabama.
An ownership statement declaring that you own the name and that no one else has the right to use it in Alabama in the same or a confusingly similar form.
Three specimens showing the name actually being used. Business cards, flyers, website screenshots, product labels, and social media pages all qualify.

The specimen rule trips people up. You have to already be using the trade name when you apply. Alabama’s trade name process is not a reservation system, so if you haven’t launched under the name yet, you need to start using it and create specimens first. The application must be signed and verified by the business owner, a partner, or a corporate officer.³

How to File and What It Costs

Submit the application online through the Secretary of State’s portal or by mail to the Trademarks Division.¹ The statutory filing fee is $30, payable to the Secretary of State.³ Online filers paying by credit card should expect a small processing surcharge on top.

Once you submit, the Trademarks Division reviews the application and specimens. If everything is in order, you’ll receive a certificate of registration. Processing times vary; plan on roughly two weeks.

What a Trade Name Actually Gives You

A trade name lets your business operate publicly under a name that isn’t its legal name. A sole proprietor named Jane Smith can sell cupcakes as “Sweet Jane’s Bakery.” An LLC called “Smith Holdings, LLC” can run a restaurant branded “The Corner Table.” You get a public identity without forming a new legal entity.

What a trade name does not do matters just as much. It provides no liability protection, doesn’t change your tax obligations, and doesn’t create a separate business structure. A sole proprietor using a trade name is still personally on the hook for business debts. If liability protection is the goal, form an LLC or corporation separately.

Adopting a trade name also doesn’t require a new Employer Identification Number. The IRS keeps your existing EIN whether you’re a sole proprietor, corporation, partnership, or LLC adopting a DBA.⁴

Is Registration Required?

No. Alabama doesn’t legally require trade name registration, but the Secretary of State’s office strongly encourages it, and in practice you’ll want it.⁵ Most banks ask for a certified copy of the registration before they’ll let you open an account under anything other than your legal name.

Alabama common law gives you some ownership rights to a name simply by being the first to adopt and use it, and the Trademarks Handbook confirms that rights arise through adoption and usage.⁵ But common law rights are harder to prove. Registration creates an official public record of when you began using the name and who owns it, which matters if you ever need to enforce your rights. Registered owners can seek injunctions, profits and damages, enhanced damages up to three times actual damages, destruction of infringing materials, and attorney fees in willful cases.⁶ Disputes go to court, not the Secretary of State, so walking in with a certificate puts you well ahead of the person relying on receipts and screenshots.

Renewal, Transfer, and Cancellation

Your registration is valid for five years.¹ To renew, submit the same application form, but you only need one specimen instead of three, and the fee is again $30.⁵ Miss the five-year deadline and your registration lapses automatically.

If you sell the business or want to transfer the name, Alabama allows assignment. The written assignment application needs full addresses for both parties, notarization, and a $30 fee; the Secretary of State then issues a new certificate in the new owner’s name for the remainder of the term.⁷ If a merger triggered the transfer, include a copy of the Certificate of Merger.

To cancel before the term is up, send a written cancellation request to the Trademarks Division. Letting the five-year term expire has the same effect.

Tell the IRS About the Name

Keeping your EIN doesn’t mean the IRS updates itself. You still need to notify them, and the method depends on your entity type:⁸

Sole proprietors write to the IRS at the address where they file their return, signed by the owner.
Corporations check the name change box on the next Form 1120 (Line E, Box 3) or Form 1120-S (Line H, Box 2), or send a signed written notice if the current-year return is already filed.
Partnerships check the name change box on the next Form 1065 (Line G, Box 3), or send a signed written notice if already filed.

If you want written confirmation back from the IRS, ask for it in your notification. They don’t send one automatically.

1
Alabama Secretary of State. Trademarks
2
Alabama Secretary of State. Business Entity Records
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 8 Chapter 12 Article 2 Section 8-12-8
4
Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN
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Alabama Secretary of State. Trademarks: The Handbook
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Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 8 Chapter 12 Article 2 Section 8-12-18
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Alabama Secretary of State. Application to Assign Trademark, Service Mark or Trade Name in Alabama
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Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change