Use the Self-Service to search the Fictitious Business Name Statement index to see if the business name you have chosen has not already been filed with the Clerk-Recorder's Office.   
 
The Clerk-Recorder’s Office does not check to see if the name is already on file and will not prevent someone from filing a duplicate or similar name.  It is your responsibility to check Fictitious Business Name index to ensure that you are not infringing on other business trademarks or common law rights.  (Pursuant to Business and Professions Code Section 14411, “The filing of any fictitious business name statement by a person required to file such statement pursuant to Section 17910 shall establish a rebuttable presumption that the registrant has the exclusive right to use as a trade name the fictitious business name, as well as any confusingly similar trade name, in the county in which the statement is filed, if the registrant is the first to file such a statement containing the fictitious business name in that county, and is actually engaged in a trade or business utilizing such fictitious business name or a confusingly similar name in that county.”)  Enforcement of this section is at the discretion of the business, not the Clerk-Recorder’s Office. 

A Fictitious Business Name Statement filing in the County of San Luis Obispo can be completed one of three ways:

1. Online via the Self-Service Portal to submit the information. 

THIS DOES NOT COMPLETE YOUR TRANSACTION.   After submitting your information online, the registrant MUST come into one of our offices to complete the process within 30 days. Valid identification and fees required.  

2. In-person at one of the Clerk-Recorder's Office in San Luis Obispo.

If you are the registrant: When you arrive, use one of our kiosk computers in the lobby to fill out your application, then proceed to the counter to electronically sign the application and show valid identification.

If you are not the registrant:  When you arrive, use one of our kiosk computers in the lobby to fill out the application, then proceed to the counter to show valid identification. You must submit an original Fictitious Business Name Statement signed by the registrant.

3. By mail via the application. Mail the completed form to the Clerk Recorder’s Office at the address below. Must be accompanied with the appropriate fee. We recommend emailing a copy of your form to [email protected] so we can review for errors before mailing.

          Mail completed form to: 

County of San Luis Obispo Clerk-Recorder

1055 Monterey Street, Suite D120

San Luis Obispo, CA 93408

After filing the Fictitious Business Name Statement with Clerk-Recorder's Office, it must be published once a week for four (4) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the County of San Luis Obispo. The first publication must commence within forty-five (45) days of filing the Fictitious Business Name Statement.

Each publisher has different procedures for proof of publication, so communicate with the publisher directly regarding the process. Pursuant to BPC 17917(d) and affidavit of publication must be filed in our office within 45 days of completion of publication.