What is the difference between a DBA and a Trademark? Which one do you need?

Doing business in the modern legal world is not an easy process. There are so many things you have to manage and maintain that it becomes overwhelming. An important aspect of running a modern business is your DBA (Doing Business As) name and your trademark, which are totally different things and often require the help of a Corporate attorney for registration and aid in the legal processes.

DBA vs. Trademark:

In the simplest terms possible, a DBA is the legal name of your company, and trademark is the name given to your products and services. Let’s say you want to start a software technologies company. When you go looking to register it as a legal company and a legal entity, you have to give it a name. You give it the name “bigmantech.” This is your DBA. But when you develop your first software and want to sell it, you can’t call it bigmantech. That won’t make any sense. So, you call your management software “MrManager,” and you register this name so no one can copy it. This is your trademark.

Which one do you need?

From the previous section, it is extremely clear that any company wanting to do business in this world needs them both. A company is like a virtual person and is considered a legal entity with a DBA as its name. This DBA can be used to sign legal documents, open bank accounts, and many other things just like a person would be able to. If a lawsuit is filed against a company, the name on the lawsuit is the DBA of that company, not the name of the owner.

Similarly, a trademark is necessary to give your products and services a name that is memorable, catchy, interesting, and explains what the product is all about. You can look at it this way, a DBA is the legal side of a company, while the trademark is its branding and outer appearance.

There is also no legal limit to how many trademarks or DBA a company can register. This is especially true for the trademark since not every product in a company’s catalog can have the same name or branding on it; that’d be weird and unintuitive.

Conclusion:

DBA’s and Trademarks are a critical aspect of doing business, and it is best to have an absolute understanding of them.