How To Get a DBA in Idaho in Three Steps

Before registering a new DBA in Idaho, your first step is ensuring the name is available. Your business name should be distinctive. Although the Idaho Secretary of State allows sole proprietorships to register a name currently being used by another business, other business structures, such as corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs), must have unique names.

There are three main ways you can make sure the name you want is available:

• Idaho Business Name Search. Idaho’s online database of registered business names, trade names, and fictitious names is your first stop for determining whether your chosen name is available.

• Internet Search. Searching on your favorite search engine can tell you whether your chosen name is being used anywhere in the world. You can also look up domain registrations on ICANN. If you do find that another entrepreneur is already using the name, you can then weigh the potential risks of using it as well. For instance, if the existing brand is already well known, there could be brand confusion or even potentially additional legal issues with using the name. Moreover, if the other business becomes a topic of controversy, you may not want to share that DBA name.

• Trademark Search. The USPTO trademark database includes all names with registered federal trademarks.

If your Idaho assumed business name is not trademarked, you can do so through the USPTO. Additionally, if the domain name is available, you can reserve the website name to prevent others from purchasing and using the URL.

Idaho requires that you file a Certificate of Assumed Business Name form, which is available online, with the Idaho Secretary of State. 

For your DBA filing, you must supply:

• The “assumed business name”

• The individual and/or entity names and business addresses of those doing business under the assumed business name

• The general type of business

• Mailing address for future correspondence 

You can either submit the form online, print it out and mail it, or deliver it in person.

The form may be submitted online or to the Idaho Secretary of State SOSbiz Website or you can download and mail the form or submit it in person. There is a $25 filing fee; if you file by mail or in person, there is an additional $20 processing fee.

The mailing address is:

Office of the Secretary of State

PO Box 83720

Boise, ID 83720-0080

If you are going in person, the office address is:

Office of the Secretary of State

450 N. 4th Street

Boise, ID 83702

Phone: (208) 334-2301

Note that Idaho has no requirement that you publish notice of your DBA in a newspaper or elsewhere.