Choose Your Company's Name
States do require that every incorporated business has a unique name that’s not used by any other formal business in the state. The name must end with an LLC designator, such as “Limited Liability Company” or “Limited Company,” or an abbreviation of one of these phrases (such as “LLC,” “L.L.C.,” or “Ltd. Liability Co.”), and the name cannot include certain words prohibited by the state, such as Bank, Insurance, Corporation or City (state rules differ on which words are prohibited). We will check if your business name is available by searching the company name database for your state.
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Naming corporation
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“Distinguishable on the record”. The name selected must be "distinguishable on the records" of the Secretary of State (or similar office) from the names of other domestic and foreign corporations and other business entities.
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Required words. The name of a corporation must include the words "corporation", "incorporated", or "company", the letters "Inc." or "Corp.", or some other phrase or abbreviation indicating that the entity is a corporation. Most state statutes specifically identify which entity descriptions can be used.
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Prohibited words. Each state has rules concerning what words are prohibited when selecting a legal name for your corporation.
Trademark Registration
A trademark can protect the name of your business, goods, and services at a national level. Trademarks prevent others in the same (or similar) industry in the United States from using your trademarked names.
For example, if you were an electronics company and wanted to call your business Springfield Electronic Accessories and one of your products Screen Cover 5000, trademarking those names would prevent other electronics businesses or similar products from using those same names.
Businesses in every state are subject to trademark infringement lawsuits, which can prove costly. That’s why you should check your prospective business, product, and service names against the official trademark database, maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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If you prefer to operate under a name different from your legal business name, you may choose to use a "Doing Business As" (DBA) name. A DBA allows your company to operate under a different name without the need to formally change your legal business name. This can be useful for branding or marketing purposes. However, it's important to note that a DBA does not create a separate legal entity and does not offer the same liability protection as forming an LLC or corporation.
Company Address or Virtual Mailbox
In many states you need to provide a physical U.S. address and/or mailing address of your business when filing and many of our foreign clients don’t have a U.S. address. If you don’t have a U.S. address, you have three options:
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We offer to use our mailing address for filing. This keeps your personal/company’s address off the public records and you don’t need to subscribe to a virtual mailbox to start a company. You won’t find this service anywhere else. You will receive state correspondence to this address and we will scan and upload it to your account. However, this address can’t be used for your business/personal correspondence.
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You can get a virtual U.S. mailing address to use for filing and your business correspondence. This is a virtual mailbox service that allows you to manage your mail and packages via any device. Your mail/package will be scanned and uploaded to your account and you have an option to have it sent internationally to your address. You will need an address for your business bank account; however, you can sign up for it after formation. We work with one of the best services that offers virtual mailboxes in all 50 states and you can sign up for a low monthly fee.
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Get a virtual office. A virtual office is a work space solution, including a physical mailing address, that you can rent to help make your startup or small business appear larger and more established. It also offers additional features, such as a local phone number, receptionist, or physical office space and/or meeting and conference rooms that you can rent by the hour and use to create a positive impression on your clients. This can be quite costly, $100-300/month. We don’t have any partnerships with Virtual office providers.