I'm not a lawyer, but here is a link to the California Business and Professions Code, 179XX, which governs fictitious business names.u00a0 http://www.lawserver.com/law/sta...I don't see the penalty for non-compliance, however.u00a0 You must file for a fictitious business name with 40 days from the commencement of operations.u00a0 Probably in the time you're worrying about the answer to this question, you could have done it.u00a0 I suggest compliance.u00a0 I assume you'll simply pay a late filing fee.It's a relatively simple procedure.u00a0 Go to your nearest County Clerks office, fill out a form and pay a small filing fee.u00a0 You then publish certain information about your business in a local newspaper (which appears along in the back pages with similar disclosures that nobody reads), essentially a public disclosure that you have reserved a certain DBA.u00a0 I did mine through the Pasadena Weekly.It's very painless.u00a0 Maybe about an hour of your time.u00a0 Do it now.u00a0 It's never a good feeling writing out a check for penalties, which you could have easily avoided.The only part in the code which addresses penalties is the filing of false information (as opposed to non-compliance).u00a0 You won't go to jail, but its a $1K fine.Any person who executes, files, or publishes any statementunder this chapter, knowing that such statement is false, in whole orin part, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon convictionthereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousanddollars ($1,000). http://www.lawserver.com/law/sta...