Do you know whats the importance of an Illinois business entity search before naming your business? If not then, keep reading and we will provide you with all the information regarding what exactly a business entity search is and what’s the procedure of conducting it for Illinois. We will also walk you through the necessary steps you should take after finalizing a name for your business.
How Illinois is advantageous for businesses? Illinois is one of the most affordable places to live and start a new business. It also houses the center of attraction, the big city of Chicago. Chicago is a rapidly growing tech hub that also ranks in the top 10 largest tech employers in the United States. Also, choosing an LLC in Illinois is very advantageous for small businesses in terms of taxation and ease of management. It is the fastest way to get your new business running with the security of your personal wealth.
Illinois Business Entity Search
A business entity search is a process to find details about a business. This could also be useful for those who are thinking of naming their new Illinois LLC. No two LLCs can have the same name. You have to choose a different and unique name. Hence the Illinois business entity search is crucial and can be helpful for various reasons. Before moving on to that, you must know the naming guidelines set by the secretary of state. You must follow this while choosing a name for your LLC. Once you are sure of the name you can perform the Illinois business entity search and check availability.
Illinois LLC Naming Guidelines
- Your Illinois LLC name must include the term-limited liability company or its abbreviations (LLC or L.L.C)
- Your LLC name should not be confused with any Illinois government agency. That’s why words like FBI, agency, commission, department are restricted to use.
- To avoid your LLC formation getting rejected, you must make sure that your name does not match any existing entity in Illinois. You can make sure of this by doing the Illinois SOS business search.
- Your name should not include the term Olympic or any names that are trademarked by the International Olympic Committee.
- Your Illinois LLC should not define a purpose that would be illegal for your business to be carried out.
- In any way, your Illinois LLC must not define a purpose that’s illegal to carry out a business.
Illinois Business Entity Search Method
All the states have different methods to facilitate business name search across their citizens. For the people wanting to do a business in Illinois, they must do the Illinois business entity search. But what’s the procedure of conducting the Illinois SOS business search?
1. Search by entity name
To ensure that your preferred business name is not currently used by any other entity in Illinois, you can simply search that name in the entity name box. go to the Illinois Secretary of State business search page. Here, you get to search businesses associated with Coporation, LLC, or both of them.
- Go to the page and search your preferred business name in the “search-box” and make sure that the same or similar name is not currently used by any other business in the state.
- You can also select the “keyword” or “partial word” options and make a personalized search according to your need.
- The result page will show you the businesses that have the searched work in their name along with their File number.
- If the searched term does not match the data records that means your searched name is unique and you are free to use it without any worries.
2. Search the File Number
You can select the file number option and search the file number of any particular business located in the state of Illinois. This will give you a single refined result as the file number is unique for all businesses.
- On this page, you can click on a particular business name to get more details like its duration date, Agent information, status, and so on.
Reserve Your Illinois LLC Name
If you don’t want to form the business right away, then you can also get your preferred name reserved. For this, you can file the Illinois LLC Name Reservation Application with the Illinois SOS. The reservation will require a filing fee of $25. This will reserve your Illinois LLC name for 90 days.
Register Your Illinois LLC Name
After doing the Illinois business entity search, if you are successful in finding a suitable name for your LLC that is unique from other entities in Illinois, then you can immediately register your business with the Illinois SOS. For this, file the Illinois Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State. The registration cost is $150.
Revise Your Illinois LLC Name
Though changing your business name is risky but on some occasions, it might be impossible to pass on it. If you want to make changes to your Illinois LLC name then it could be done easily by submitting a legal amendment. Just file the Illinois Articles of Amendment application with the Illinois SOS. The filing cost for the same is $50.
Domain & Trademark
It is important that your domain name is easy to remember. Hence we would recommend you choose a domain name exactly like your LLC name. Coming onto trademark. Your Illinois LLC name should not breach another firm’s existing trademark in the state of Illinois. To make sure of this you can conduct an Illinois trademark search. On the flip side, you can also protect your name in Illinois by filing a trademark for your name. To do this file the trademark application form with the Illinois SOS. The filing fee is $10 per class and the trademark will be effective for 5 years,
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I make sure that my preferred name is available to use in Illinois?
You’ll have to conduct an Illinois business entity search on the official portal of the Illinois Secretary of State business search page.
2. How much does it cost to file the Articles of Organization in Illinois?
The registration cost for Articles of Organization in Illinois is $150.
3. For how many days can I reserve my LLC name in Illinois?
Illinois Secretary of State allows you to reserve an LLC name for 90 days. You can reserve your Illinois LLC name for a period of 90 days.
4. How much does it cost to reserve an LLC name in Illinois?
The Illinois Secretary of State charges $25 to file a reservation for an LLC name.
5. How much does it cost to trademark my business name in Illinois?
The trademark registration cost in Illinois is $10 per class. The trademark will be effective for 5 years.