Is It a Liability to Release Products Under Your LLC Name, Without the "Llc" Suffix

[DonRollins]

There are some states (i.e. New Mexico) which don't do DBAs. If you have a company called "ABC Gear LLC", you'd probably want to leave the "LLC" off the branding of your products, and just sell them under the label "ABC Gear" - so technically, the product would not be labeled with your actual company name. Do you lose any of the benefits of the LLC if you do this? Is there some way other than the DBA to get handle this situation? Thanks.

[pg1067]

There are some states (i.e. New Mexico) which don't do DBAs.

Where did you get the idea that New Mexico (or any other state) doesn't "do DBAs"? "DBA" is an acronym that stands for "doing business as," and when one refers to "a DBA," one is typically talking about a sole proprietorship. There is no state that does not allow the sole proprietorship business form or which does not allow a person or entity to conduct business using a fictitious business name.

If you have a company called "ABC Gear LLC", you'd probably want to leave the "LLC" off the branding of your products, and just sell them under the label "ABC Gear" - so technically, the product would not be labeled with your actual company name. Do you lose any of the benefits of the LLC if you do this?

No.

Is there some way other than the DBA to get handle this situation?

I'm not sure what "this situation" means, but the question makes no sense in the context of the prior sentence. "LLC" is an acronym that stands for "limited liability company." As the name implies, one of the primary benefits of the LLC business form is that the owners have limited (or no) liability for torts and breaches of contract by the company. By contrast, the sole proprietorship business form offers zero protection from liability because the company has no separate existence from the owner, so the owner is personally liable for everything.

[flyingron]

First off, New Mexico doesn't "register" DBAs. That doesn't mean you can't have one. In some states, the secretary of state registers DBA names, some leave it up to the counties to do. I'll disagree with PG. There's nothing that particularly ties DBAs to sole proprietorships. Lots of LLCs and Corporations also use fictitious names.

There's no obligation in New Mexico to not use a fictitious name in advertising or marking products. Futher, while the LLC is typically legally part of the entity name, I doubt very much that even in states that require fictitious name regulation anyone is getting worked up because you leave LLC or INC off anything other than formal legal documents.

[Taxing Matters]

Do you lose any of the benefits of the LLC if you do this? Is there some way other than the DBA to get handle this situation? Thanks.

You might lose the limited liability protection of the LLC in some instances should you not make it clear the party you are dealing with that your business is a LLC. If it would appear to the other party that you are the owner of the business rather than a LLC, corporation, or whatever, you may be held liable as a result of effectively misleading the other party.

Every state allows a LLC to use a trade name. Whether registration of that name is required by the state or by the county (if registration is required at all) does vary. It used to be that "doing business as" was a phrase used to identify the trade name used by a sole proprietor whereas the phrase "trading as" was the phrased used to indicate a trade name for a legal entity like a LLC, LLP, corporation, etc., but increasingly it seems as though those phrases are being used pretty much interchangeably.

[pg1067]

I'll disagree with PG. There's nothing that particularly ties DBAs to sole proprietorships. Lots of LLCs and Corporations also use fictitious names.

Not really a disagreement. The term "sole proprietorship" might not be used when a corporation or LLC is doing business under a fictitious name, but it's the same concept: legal entity (whether a natural person or an artificial business entity) does business under a fictitious name.