First-Time Applicants

If you are filing a New Application and Not Renewing an Existing Fictitious Business Name Statement, read this:

The person registering the Fictitious Business Name Statement is responsible for advertising it in a general circulation newspaper distributed in San Mateo County. The advertisement must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks. The newspaper selected should be one that circulates in the area where the business is to be conducted. We will provide you with a list of newspaper publishers in San Mateo County to help you contact them and fulfill this advertising requirement. 

After the series of four advertisements has been published, the newspaper publisher will file an affidavit of publication with the County Clerk’s Office to confirm that the advertising requirement was met. It is their responsibility to file the affidavit within 45 days after your last advertisement appeared.

You will note there are 4 copies of the Fictitious Business Name Statement Filing in your packet, one copy is to file with the County Clerk’s office, one copy is to send to the publisher of the newspaper where you plan to advertise, one copy is for your records and one is for your bank (if required). For additional information regarding the filing Fictitious Business Name Statements, please contact the County Clerk’s Office at 650.363.4500.

Fictitious Business Name Registration (Application & Affidavit)

Renewing Applicants

If this is an application to renew a Fictitious Business Name Statement before it expires (normally at the end of five years), read this:

A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed on or before the end of the 5-year expiration period for the business to continue doing business under that name. If a refiling is required because the prior statement is expired, the refiling need not be published provided it is filed within 40 days of the date the statement expired. A new Fictitious Business number will be assigned. 

However, if any change has occurred in the facts in the original statement, the Fictitious Business Name Statement is considered the same as a new one and must be published according to the schedule described in the paragraph above. The person filing the new form is responsible for determining if the facts have changed.

Persons stating incorrect facts may be subject to penalties and fines as set out in California’s Business & Professions Code (Section 17930).

Fictitious Business Name Registration (Application & Affidavit)

NOTE:  Please make check out to San Mateo County Clerk. All checks must be pre-printed and payable against a U.S.A. Bank. Also, Fictitious Statement must be two pages (not double-sided) when submitting application.