DBA · Alabama

How to File a Trade Name for an LLC in Alabama

By Edmond Hui · Last updated October 6, 2026

Short answer

Alabama's law lets an LLC register a trade name; we found no rule requiring it. In Alabama this means registering the name as a trade name under Alabama's trademark law. The Secretary of State does not accept a personal name as a trade name. We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Alabama.

Alabama Trade Name at a Glance

Requirement: Allowed; no requirement found
Where to file: Secretary of State
Fee: See Cost and renewal
How long it lasts: 5 years
Newspaper notice: None found
File online: Not confirmed

How an LLC Files

An LLC files the Application to Register Trademark, Service Mark or Trade Name in Alabama with the Secretary of State.

Filing needs the name already in use, specimens showing the name in use and a notarized signature.

Open the filing office's site

Cost and Renewal

The filing fee is $30.00. The $30 fee covers one class of business, and an application covering more than one class needs a separate application and fee for each class.

The registration has a 5-year term.

Renewal costs $30.00.

Publication

We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Alabama.

Does it protect the name?

Registration lets the owner of the registered trade name sue a business that uses a confusingly similar copy of it, but it does not override rights someone else gained in good faith by using the name. Alabama's Secretary of State says ownership of a name comes from adopting and using it, not from registering it.

Sole proprietors

Alabama's law lets a sole proprietor register a trade name; we found no rule requiring it. In Alabama this means registering the name as a trade name under Alabama's trademark law. The Secretary of State does not accept a personal name as a trade name.

A sole proprietor files the Application to Register Trademark, Service Mark or Trade Name in Alabama with the Secretary of State.

Filing needs the name already in use, specimens showing the name in use and a notarized signature.

The filing fee is $30.00. The $30 fee covers one class of business, and an application covering more than one class needs a separate application and fee for each class.

The registration has a 5-year term.

Renewal costs $30.00.

We found no publication step for a sole proprietor's trade name filing in Alabama.

Requirement	Allowed; no requirement found
Where to file	Secretary of State
Fee	See Cost and renewal
How long it lasts	5 years
Newspaper notice	None found
File online	Not confirmed

Next steps

Frequently Asked Questions

: Alabama's law lets an LLC register a trade name; we found no rule requiring it. In Alabama this means registering the name as a trade name under Alabama's trademark law. The Secretary of State does not accept a personal name as a trade name.
: An LLC files the Application to Register Trademark, Service Mark or Trade Name in Alabama with the Secretary of State. Filing needs the name already in use, specimens showing the name in use and a notarized signature.
: The filing fee is $30.00. The $30 fee covers one class of business, and an application covering more than one class needs a separate application and fee for each class.
: The registration has a 5-year term. Renewal costs $30.00.
: We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Alabama.
: Registration lets the owner of the registered trade name sue a business that uses a confusingly similar copy of it, but it does not override rights someone else gained in good faith by using the name. Alabama's Secretary of State says ownership of a name comes from adopting and using it, not from registering it.
: Alabama's law lets a sole proprietor register a trade name; we found no rule requiring it. In Alabama this means registering the name as a trade name under Alabama's trademark law. The Secretary of State does not accept a personal name as a trade name. A sole proprietor files the Application to Register Trademark, Service Mark or Trade Name in Alabama with the Secretary of State.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's filing office publishes about registering a business name, with the sources this page cites. A state trade name registration is not a federal trademark registration, and fees and forms change between our reviews. Confirm with the office named on this page before you file.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Alabama sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/alison/codeofalabama/1975/8-12-8.htmCode of Alabama 8-12-8, Application for registration; contents; signature and verification; filing fee (archived copy)
alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/alison/codeofalabama/1975/8-12-6.htmCode of Alabama 8-12-6, Definitions (archived copy)
alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/alison/codeofalabama/1975/8-12-10.htmCode of Alabama 8-12-10, Duration and renewal of registration; renewal fee (archived copy)
sos.alabama.gov/administrative-services/trademarksAlabama Secretary of State, Trademarks
sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/form-files/trademark-files/lat-1.pdfInstructions for Application to Register Trademark, Service Mark, or Trade Name in Alabama (LAT-1)
sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/TrademarksHandbook.pdfTrademarks: The Handbook, Alabama Secretary of State
arc-sos.state.al.us/CGI/TMNAME.MBR/INPUTAlabama Secretary of State, Trademark Records search
sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/form-files/trademark-files/lat-1.pdfInstructions for Application to Register Trademark, Service Mark, or Trade Name in Alabama (LAT-1)
sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/form-files/trademark-files/lat-1.pdfInstructions for Application to Register Trademark, Service Mark, or Trade Name in Alabama (LAT-1)
alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/alison/codeofalabama/1975/8-12-16.htmCode of Alabama 8-12-16, Liability to civil action for infringement (archived copy)
alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/alison/codeofalabama/1975/8-12-19.htmCode of Alabama 8-12-19, Common-law rights (archived copy)

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.