What should I add behind the Trade Name for my Sole Proprietorship?

Question

I am registered as a Sole Proprietorship in India to do business.

I have provided a Trade Name eg. ABC

So I have 2 questions:

1. In my Terms of Service and any other legal document can I use the Trade Name eg.

   "These terms are between you and ABC"

   Or could I use My Own Name rather then the Trade Name.

2. What could I add behind ABC? for example with LLC's you add ABC LLC.

Answer 1

There is no strictly correct answer. If you are worried about confusion as might be the case in a business name like ABC such as ABC - a diner, and ABC - an auto repair shop both geographically close to each other where both just go by the name ABC then you could use the business's address to differentiate your business from the other. Alternatively you could use your real name with your company's fictitious name for example: john Doe dba ABC (dba - doing business as) as is common in franchises. With this you could again, also include the business address to further prevent confusion.

Answer 2

It would be improper to add anything to the trade name (e.g. LLC or Inc. or Ltd.) other than TM. You would be giving the impression that you are an entity when you are not.

You can use the trade name in your TOS but should define it somewhere to be the trade name of your real name.