Before incorporating an Illinois LLC, all companies should do an Illinois Business Name Search.
In this Illinois Secretary of State Business Search tutorial, we’ll teach you how to verify LLC name availability.
Go Ahead:
Stick to the Illinois Naming Guidelines.
Conduct an Illinois Business Name Search and Look for Available Domain Names
Reserve the Name of Your Illinois Business Entity
Table of Contents
1. Follow the Illinois Naming Guidelines for Entities
Before finishing your business name search, we suggest double-checking that your company name complies with the standards.
The first and most significant step in forming your LLC is deciding on a name. Choose a name that conforms with Illinois naming rules and is readily searchable by customers.
Please adhere to the following naming guidelines:
The word “limited liability corporation” or one of its acronyms must be in your name (LLC or L.L.C.).
Your name cannot include terms that might be confused with a government entity (FBI, Treasury, State Department, etc.).
Restricted terms (e.g., bank, attorney, university) may need extra documentation and the participation of a licenced professional, such as a doctor or lawyer, in your Illinois LLC.
2. Conduct a business name search in Illinois.
Before submitting your name reservation request, you may verify the availability of your selected organisation name using the Illinois Business Name Search. To conduct the most effective search, enter the desired name, omitting identifiers such as “LLC.” This will return any entities with names that are the same or similar.
If your company name consists of many words, you may limit your search to the first two words to guarantee that you find all potential comparable names.
3. Look for Available Domain Names
Another crucial factor to consider when choosing a company name is if the desired web domain name is available. It is critical to have a URL that properly reflects your company name. This apparently little activity may have a significant impact on how potential clients locate your company.
4. Reserve the name of your Illinois business entity.
All LLC name questions and requests are handled by Illinois’ Secretary of State. A company name may be reserved for up to 90 days.
You must make an application by mail to reserve a company name. To prevent rejection, undertake a thorough search before submitting your application. You must pay a filing fee while reserving your name. Checks should be made payable to the “Secretary of State.”
Other Factors to Consider
While reserving your entity name is simple, there are a few more factors to consider while deciding on the right name for your company. You should do a Trademark and Social Media search for your organisation name to see if it is accessible for usage online. This will assist guarantee that you have complete and unlimited usage of your company name.
Search for a Trademark
Before registering your company name and related slogans or emblems, do a trademark search to avoid potential expensive lawsuits. The discovery that another entity has trademarked your company name does not immediately exclude you from utilising it.
However, it is critical to understand who is using the name, what sector they are in, and where they are situated in order to avoid unwittingly infringing on anyone’s intellectual property rights.
To finish this step:
Conduct an Illinois trademark search to determine whether your company’s name or any related slogans, logos, or other identifiers are already in use by another company in your state.
Search the digitised records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office for any federally registered trademarks linked with your company name.
Search on Social Media
Finding a domain name that matches your company is just as vital, if not more important, than ensuring that your business name is accessible for usage across social networking platforms. To do this, search for your company’s name on all major websites, using a service like Namecheckr to scan across all platforms at once.
In conclusion
Choosing a name for your company is a vital first step in forming a successful LLC, and it is a simple process. After you’ve discovered your desired name using Illinois’ Business Entity Search, you’ll want to obtain your domain name so that your clients can locate you online. Using an Illinois Name Reservation Form to reserve your name can help you stand out from the crowd. After you’ve obtained your name, you’ll be ready to take the following steps to create your LLC.