Can i sign up as a company with a dba?

Sure, no problem. You will have to set yourself up as a sole proprietorship. While not as involved as a corporation, it isn't fun. You will have to get a "tradename" from California and a business license. Those two documents will be all you need for Apple. You will also have to pick a name that nobody else has or wants. If someone with more money comes along, they will just take it from you and maybe sue you for good measure. (I speak from experience 🙂). Then you will have to FAX that information to Apple and you can get yourself a business account.

JamesWise wrote:

I am now however, really considering creating an LLC instead. the whole take it away and sue you doesn't sound like fun at all. not sure what the expense is but perhaps its worth the invesment and hassle.

not sure where to even start with that.

Money. Lots of it. In all honesty, you are very unlikely to be sued. Your liklihood of being a target is directly proportional to how juicy the reward might be - i.e. how much money you have. That is why everyone is suing Apple these days - not because they have done anything wrong, but because they have money to settle with. At worst, a small developer might get a cease and desist notice. Sometimes patent trolls go after regular people, but that is like getting struck by lightening. You can take some precautions, but it is actually very rare and if it hits you, you're toast regardless.

also would you know how i check if a developer name is taken?

Have your attorney do a trademark search. Just joking. Don't bother. All the good names are taken. You can't just look for developer names, you have to look for any name that has been trademarked for anything related to what you are doing. Your bet is to invent a name that doesn't exist and that no one else would want. My first business name was "Harmony Software" - and I was definitely the first to have it. But then someone sent me a cease and desist because they mentioned the word "email" in their trademark application. Otherwise, there was no similarity whatsoever. But I was far too busy and far too poor to fight them. I came up with "Etresoft" that is almost French, but not quite, and a little English, and pretty much unpronounceable and unreadable by most people. I'm safe now.

I would also urge you to reconsider using a personal account. Look up someone with a personal account and try to track them down. Because Apple does most of the legwork for you, there isn't much you need to reveal.

Search the App Store for the name you have in mind...toss in something simple for anything similar if you need ideas, etc.