Assumed-Name (DBA) Registration Requirements in Washington

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Who must register

Washington requires "each person or persons who carries on, conducts, or transacts business in this state under any trade name" to register it (RCW 19.80.010). The key is what counts as a "trade name." Under RCW 19.80.005(4) it is a name that either does not include "the true and real name of all persons conducting the business," or uses words such as company, and sons, or and associates that imply additional interested parties. "Person" is broad — it covers individuals, partnerships, LLCs, and corporations (RCW 19.80.005(3)).

The flip side is the exemption. Your "true and real name" includes your surname plus a first name or initial, and, for a registered entity, "the registered corporate name," LLC name, or limited-partnership name "as filed with the secretary of state." So a corporation or LLC operating under its exact registered name has no trade name to register, and a general partnership is exempt if its name includes every partner's true name.

Where you file

You register with the Department of Revenue (RCW 19.80.005(2), 19.80.010), which runs the registry through its Business Licensing Service. In practice the trade name goes on the state Business License Application alongside your other licensing and tax registrations — a single statewide filing. There is no county filing: Washington moved trade-name registration from the counties to the state agency back in 1979, so the county auditor is not involved.

When to file

The statute sets no numeric deadline for an initial registration, but two timing rules matter. First, you cannot sue on the business until you have registered (RCW 19.80.040, below), which makes registration effectively a pre-litigation requirement. Second, if the people running the business change, or the wording or spelling of the name changes, you must file "a notice of cancellation, together with a new registration ... before conducting or transacting any business" (RCW 19.80.025(3)) — a change is not a minor amendment but a fresh registration.

No newspaper publication

Chapter 19.80 has no publication requirement. Unlike states such as California or Illinois, Washington makes you do nothing in a newspaper — registration with the Department is the whole step.

The fee

The statute does not set a dollar figure. Instead the Department of Revenue sets fees by rule, and those fees "may not exceed the actual cost of administering this chapter" (RCW 19.80.045). The trade-name charge is a small fee collected with the Business License Application; because it is administrative, confirm the current amount on the Department's current fee list rather than relying on a figure that can change without a statutory amendment.

How long it lasts

A Washington trade name is tied to your business license rather than to a fixed multi-year term. The Department may require renewal but "not more often than annually," and it must let you renew the trade name "at the same time" you renew your business license (RCW 19.80.080(1)). The registration is cancelled on your request or "when the person's business license account ... is inactive" (RCW 19.80.080(2)) — so letting your business license lapse can end the trade name too.

Registration is not name protection

The chapter's purpose is disclosure and record-keeping: to "disclose the true and real name of each person conducting that business" and to "provide a central registry" (RCW 19.80.001). Nothing in the chapter grants an exclusive right to the name or bars anyone else from registering or using it. If you want to keep others off a brand, that is a trademark question, not a trade-name registration.

What happens if you skip it

Washington enforces registration by closing the courthouse, not by fining you. "No person or persons ... transacting business under any trade name shall be entitled to maintain any suit in any of the courts of this state until" registration is completed (RCW 19.80.040). The bar is curable — register, then sue — and it "shall not impair the validity of any contract" and "shall not prevent" you from defending a suit. There is no misdemeanor or civil penalty in the current chapter.

What trips people up

• The trade name rides on your business license. Because renewal and cancellation are tied to the business license (RCW 19.80.080), a lapsed or inactive license can quietly cancel your trade name. Keep the license current if you want the name to stay registered.
• Changing the name or the owners means re-registering, not amending. RCW 19.80.025(3) requires a cancellation plus a new registration before you keep doing business under a changed name or changed ownership — not a light-touch amendment.
• A registered entity using its exact name files nothing. The trade-name duty targets names that hide the owners (RCW 19.80.005(4)). An LLC or corporation operating under its Secretary of State name has no trade name; it only needs one for a different brand.
• The suit-bar is a delay, not a forfeiture. If you sued and had not registered, RCW 19.80.040 blocks the case, but you can cure it by registering, and your contracts remain valid. File before you need to enforce anything.

Common questions

Is there a separate county DBA in Washington? No. Trade-name registration is a single statewide filing with the Department of Revenue's Business Licensing Service (RCW 19.80.010); the counties stopped handling it in 1979.

Do I have to publish the name in a newspaper? No. Chapter 19.80 has no publication requirement.

How does renewal work? Your trade name renews with your business license, and the Department cannot require renewal more than once a year (RCW 19.80.080(1)).

What if I never register? You can keep operating and your contracts stay valid, but you cannot maintain a lawsuit in a Washington court on that business until you register (RCW 19.80.040). Register first, then sue.

Statutes and sources

• RCW 19.80.001 — purposes: disclosure of owners and a central trade-name registry. Official text (accessed 2026-08-23).
• RCW 19.80.005 — defines "department" (Department of Revenue), "person," and "trade name." Official text (accessed 2026-08-23).
• RCW 19.80.010 — registration required, with the content by entity type. Official text (accessed 2026-08-23).
• RCW 19.80.025 — a change in owners or in the name requires cancellation plus a new registration before continuing. Official text (accessed 2026-08-23).
• RCW 19.80.040 — curable suit-bar until registration is completed. Official text (accessed 2026-08-23).
• RCW 19.80.045 — the Department sets fees by rule, capped at actual administrative cost. Official text (accessed 2026-08-23).
• RCW 19.80.080 — renewal tied to the business license (no more than annual) and cancellation on request or when the license account is inactive. Official text (accessed 2026-08-23).