Maine Secretary of State Commercial Search

Before incorporating a Maine LLC, all firms should do a Maine Business Name Search.

In this Maine Secretary of State Business Search tutorial, we’ll teach you how to verify LLC name availability.

Go Ahead:

Maine Naming Guidelines should be followed.
Perform a Maine Business Name Search Look for Available Domain Names Reserve Your Maine Business Entity Name

1. Follow the Maine 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 Maine naming rules and that clients can readily look for.

Make sure you follow the following LLC name guidelines:

The word “limited liability corporation” or one of its acronyms must be in your name (LLC or L.L.C.).

Your LLC’s name cannot include terms that may be confused with a government organization (FBI, Treasury, State Department, etc.).

Restricted terms (e.g., bank, attorney, university) may need extra documentation and the participation of a licensed professional, such as a doctor or lawyer, in your LLC.

Any Maine company, limited liability partnership, or limited partnership must have a distinct name from yours.

2. Conduct a Maine Business Name Lookup

Before submitting your name reservation request, you may verify the availability of your selected name via the Maine Secretary of State Business Search (also known as the Corporate Name Search).

To conduct the most effective search, enter the desired name, eliminating identifiers such as “LLC,” and leave all other fields blank. This will return any entities with names that are the same or similar. Because Maine’s search returns just 100 records, you may want to try a few permutations of your name to guarantee you get the most thorough results.

To prevent rejection, undertake a comprehensive search before submitting your papers.

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 Maine Business Entity

All LLC name inquiries and requests are handled by the Maine Secretary of State’s Bureau of Corporations, Elections, and Commissions. Business names may be reserved for a period of 120 days but cannot be renewed. If your name reservation expires and you have yet to establish your company organization under that name, you may reapply for the name reservation.

Maine’s online business services may be accessed on the website of the Bureau of Corporations, Elections, and Commissions. To reserve a company name, you must submit an application by mail. The application cost is $20, and payments should be made payable to the “Maine Secretary of State.” If you want expedited services for 24-hour processing, you may pay $50, and $100 for instant processing.

Other Factors to Consider

While reserving the name for your Maine LLC is simple, there are a few more factors to consider while deciding on the right name for your company. To check whether your name is accessible for usage online, do a multi-level trademark and social media search. 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 utilizing 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:

While they do not offer a complete trademark search, you may utilize the Maine Secretary of State’s Corporate Name Search to determine whether your company name or related slogans, logos, or other elements are already in use by another company in your state.
Search the digitized 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, use a program like Namecheckr to search for your company’s name on all major websites at once.

In conclusion

Choosing a name for your company is a vital first step in forming a successful Maine LLC, and it is a simple process. After you’ve selected your ideal name using Maine’s Corporate Name Search, you’ll want to obtain your domain name so that your customers can find you online.

Using a Maine Business Name Reservation Form to reserve your name can help you stand out from the crowd. You will be ready to take the following steps to create your Maine LLC after you have obtained your company name.