doing business as (DBA)
Abbreviated DBA or d/b/a, doing buisness as is a term indicating that the name under which the business or operation is conducted and presented to the world is not the legal name of the legal person (or persons) who actually own it and are responsible for it. This is often used in the case of brand names or franchises.
For consumer protection, many states require a DBA statement be filed.
For example, see Donovan v. RRL Corp., 26 Cal. 4th 261 (2001), where the defendant, RRL Corporation, was a Lexus car dealership doing business as Lexus of Westminster. Thus, a document might refer to the organization as: "RLL Corporation d/b/a Lexus of Westminster."
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
A situation in which a business owner operates a company under a name different from its legal name. The owner must file a fictitious name statement, dba statement, or an assumed name statement with the appropriate agency -- for example, the county clerk or Secretary of State -- that records the names of the business's owners. This enables consumers to discover the names of the business owner(s), which is important if a consumer needs to sue the business.
Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:15 pm
