Oregon: Assumed-Name (DBA) Registration Requirements

Requirements one by one

Who must register and when

Oregon's trigger combines the name used with the business's county footprint. Under ORS 648.005 and 648.007, registration is required when the name does not conspicuously disclose every owner's “real and true name” and the business, a physical facility, or an employee is located in the county. The filing must be in place before covered business begins there and must remain current.

For an individual, a real and true name means the surname plus given names or initials. For an LLC or corporation, it is the name in the entity's filed records. Words such as “Company” or “& Associates” can make a name assumed by suggesting additional owners. The statute has narrow exceptions for certain pre-September 20, 1985 foreign corporations, licensed professional partnerships using partners' surnames, and specified irrigation associations.

The statewide filing still tracks counties

ORS 648.010 sends one consolidated application to the Oregon Secretary of State, not to a county clerk. The application states the name, each registrant's real and true name and street address, the principal address, primary activity, authorized representative, and every county where ORS 648.007 requires registration. The current form lets applicants check particular counties or “All Counties (Statewide).” Each owner or registrant signs.

The chapter has no newspaper-publication or publication-affidavit step. Filing the Secretary of State application is the registration procedure.

Fee and two-year renewal

ORS 648.115 routes the charge to ORS 56.140(4), which sets a $50 nonrefundable filing fee for business-registry documents outside the higher-fee categories. The current form and fee schedule both list $50 for a new assumed business name.

ORS 648.017 uses a two-year cycle. The renewal application and fee are due within the 30 days before the second anniversary of registration and each second anniversary afterward. Missing the deadline is grounds for administrative cancellation; the Secretary of State must send the authorized representative advance notice.

What registration does and does not protect

ORS 648.051 ordinarily blocks a name that is not distinguishable from an active name on the Secretary of State's records. But an applicant can overcome that record conflict with the statutory affidavit showing a right to use the name in the stated counties or a nonconfusing difference in the businesses.

That screening is not exclusive ownership. The official form says registration “does not grant exclusive rights or interests,” and ORS 648.135 preserves separate unfair-competition, trade-practice, trademark, and common-law rights. A party with superior rights can still challenge the use.

Consequences of operating unregistered

ORS 648.135 creates a curable court-access bar: a noncomplying business lacks standing to maintain its own claim for the business until it registers. Cure does not extend a limitations deadline.

If someone sues a defendant over unregistered business, the plaintiff is entitled to $500 or the greater actual reasonable cost of identifying the defendant's real and true name. The court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees. ORS 648.990 separately authorizes a civil penalty up to $100 for a chapter violation.

What trips people up

State filing does not mean county coverage is automatic. The registrant must identify each county where the business, a facility, or an employee is located, unless it selects all counties.

The authorized representative is not the only registrant-signature rule. The representative receives notices and can perform chapter duties, but the initial application requires every person conducting the single business to join the consolidated filing; the current paper form says all owners and registrants must sign.

The suit bar can be cured, but the clock cannot. Late registration restores the capacity that ORS 648.135 withholds, but it does not revive a claim after the limitation period expires.

Common questions

Do I need a DBA filing if I use my exact legal name?

No mandatory filing arises merely from exact real-and-true-name use. ORS 648.008 nevertheless lets a person register that exact name voluntarily, and then the chapter's assumed-name rules apply to it.

Is the Oregon DBA filed with every county clerk?

No. It is one Secretary of State filing. Counties are coverage selections within that statewide application.

Does an online-only business always need Oregon registration?

The chapter's county trigger asks whether the business, a physical facility, or an employee is located in the county. A business without one of those Oregon connections should not assume that sales into Oregon alone fit the trigger; licensing, tax, entity-registration, and trademark rules are separate questions.

Statutes and sources

• ORS 648.005, 648.007, 648.008, 648.010, 648.017, 648.051, 648.115, 648.135, and 648.990. Current 2025 Edition of Oregon's assumed-business-name chapter. Official chapter (accessed July 28, 2026).
• ORS 56.140. Current business-registry fee provision. Official chapter (accessed July 28, 2026).
• Oregon Secretary of State materials. Assumed Business Name New Registration and Business Registry Fee Schedule (accessed July 28, 2026).