Trenton Business Week News

 

By Paula Sollami Covello, Mercer County Clerk

 

With Trenton Business Week coming up in October, it seems like a good time to remind everyone that the County Clerk’s Office registers small business trade names.  This registration, while not legally required, will protect the name of your business against all competitors.  Furthermore, if another person is trying to operate under the same business name, the party that registered the name of his or her business is the rightful owner.  Moreover, banks generally require all businesses to register a trade name before they will allow the owners to open a business checking account.  In recent years, many local banks have been making this a firm requirement.

 

Small business registration differs from incorporating a business and so it is not for those wishing to set up LLC’s or corporations (which are filed with the Secretary of State’s Office).  Generally, the County Clerk’s Office registers trade names for small businesses, business partnerships and sole practitioners.  One can register a name of an incorporated business with us, however, to further protect the name.

 

The fee for trade name registration is $50.  However, this is a one-time fee which means that the name stays on record with us forever, unless you file dissolution.  To amend a registration, by changing an owner or changing an address, there is an additional fee.  The fee is $50 for an amendment since it changes the organization of the business.

 

The registration form is simple to fill out. It is only one page but it must be notarized before it is filed with the County Clerk’s Office.  The form can be downloaded from our website and printed out at,

http://nj.gov/counties/mercer/officials/clerk/services/trade.html.  You do need to file the paperwork in our office so that our staff can search to make sure no other business already owns the name.  

 

Lastly, we recommend you file dissolution when you close a business. The fee to dissolve a trade name is $25, however, if you do not dissolve, then the name remains on record and prevents anyone else from using the name in the future.

 

All of these filings can be done by visiting the Mercer County Clerk’s Office at 209 S. Broad Street, room 100, in Trenton during regular business hours.  We are also open late on Wednesday evenings until 6:45, for your convenience.  For more details on small business trade names, please visit our website at www.mercercounty.org and then click on County Clerk and then Office Services.