Maine Secretary of State
Maine Business Entity Search
Last updated . Register data is refreshed nightly.
Check whether a business name is already on file with the Maine Secretary of State. Free, no account, all entity types.
Maine Business Entity Search
Search the state's official business records.
Maine's register is at apps3.web.maine.gov, run by the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions. Free, no account.
Do not automate it. The state says so above the search box, and it means it.
It is a Clerk/Registered Agent here
Not a registered agent. Maine's heading reads Clerk/Registered Agent, folding two things together: the clerk is a Maine corporate office in its own right, and the register keeps both under one label.
That is the kind of terminology that makes you look like you do not know the state if you get it wrong. Ohio says statutory agent; Arizona the same; Kansas and Michigan say resident agent. Maine says clerk.
The Name Type column includes marks
Four values, and one of them is not a company:
LEGAL · ASSUMED · FORMER · MARK
Maine returns registered marks in the same result set as entities, so a single search covers ground that is two or three separate lookups in most states. Only Hawaii, Nebraska and Wyoming do the same.
And it prints a legend for its codes on the record: (A=Assumed ; F=Former) against the Other Names table. One example record trades as ACME BODY SHOP, INC. and used to be VALID LEE INCORPORATED, marked F.
The same company appears more than once
ACME BODY SHOP, INC. comes back twice: once as LEGAL, once as FORMER. ACME TOWER GROUP appears as both ASSUMED and FORMER.
Two rows are not two companies. Read the Name Type column before counting anything, or a search that looks like it found fifty conflicts may have found thirty.
There is no cap: the header reads Showing 1 to 58 of 58 for query: (ACME) in category ALL CATEGORIES. Everything on one page, like Wisconsin, and against Texas, Hawaii and Delaware.
The record stamps itself to the second
This record contains information from the CEC database and is accurate as of: Fri Sep 11 2026 10:55:30. Please print or save for your records.
Only Texas also does this. It is a small thing that tells you exactly how fresh what you are looking at is, rather than leaving you to assume.
The record itself gives the legal name, charter number, filing type and status; filing date, expiration date and jurisdiction; the Other Names table; the principal home office address split into physical and mailing; and the Clerk/Registered Agent the same way. Below that a list of filings and an order panel.
Do not automate it
Printed above the search box, word for word:
The intent of this corporate search is to provide general entity details. The Division of Corporations strictly prohibits mining data. Excessive and repeated searches that may have a negative impact on our system and customer experience are also prohibited. Use of automated tools in any form may result in the suspension of your access to utilize this service.
Delaware prints the identical notice. Both states mean it, and both are worth respecting if you want continued access.
There is also a Transaction Document Retrieval Service letting you re-download anything you bought within 15 days free, with a warning that a new query runs each time, so "this may provide different results depending on any amended filing(s) or change in entity status." The state telling you plainly that a document retrieved last week may not match today's.
Who decides
Filings are recorded; acceptance is judged on examination under the Maine Limited Liability Company Act, Me. Rev. Stat. Title 31, Chapter 21.
Before you rely on it
Read the Name Type column before counting results.
Read the A and F codes in Other Names.
Do not script it. The notice is explicit.
Maine filing facts
| Filing | Fee | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Formation | $175.00 | Title 31 s.1680(13) |
| Annual report | $85.00 | |
| Annual report, late | +$50.00 | Title 31 s.1680(10) |
| Name reservation | $20.00 | Title 31 s.1680(1) |
| Certificate of Existence, short or long form | $30.00 |
Maine sets its fees in statute rather than on a schedule page, so the citation goes to the law itself. New Hampshire does the same. It is an unusually good arrangement: the price cannot drift from the authority that sets it, and you can check both in one place.
At $175 to form and $85 a year, Maine is upper-middle on both: dearer than Kentucky's $40 and $15, cheaper than Massachusetts's $500 and $500 next door.
Foreign entities pay more on the annual report. Certificates cost $30 in either form, short without amendments or long with them.
Statutory prices, and 16,110 applications over the 52 weeks to 26 September 2026 to pay them (64 a business day, up 12.4%), 45th of 51 by volume.
What the register will not tell you
Maine has 7,265 live registered marks, and the state's name dominates them more heavily than almost anywhere:
| word | live marks | times more common than nationally |
|---|---|---|
| maine | 951 | 521x |
| lobster | 229 | 174x |
| bean | 153 | 50x |
| sea | 169 | 15x |
| brewing | 231 | 13x |
| food | 131 | 6x |
Maine at 521 times the national rate, on 951 marks in a register of 7,265: better than one mark in eight contains the state's name. Only Alaska (1,535x), Vermont (699x) and Wyoming (503x) run steeper.
Lobster at 174x is the industry, and it has no equivalent anywhere: no other state has a single food at that concentration. Sea at 15x belongs with it.
Bean at 50x is almost certainly L.L.Bean, the Freeport company. It is the one-corporation pattern seen in Arkansas (walmart), Alabama (regions) and Kansas (coleman).
Brewing at 13x is the same craft-sector signal that shows in Oregon, Colorado and Montana, and it runs harder here than in any of them.
The practical reading: Maine, lobster and sea are occupied, and if your name reaches for the coast (which a Maine business naturally does), check the federal register first.
Portland files 23.8% of the state's marks.
What the Maine portal looks like
Captured from the live register. Personal names and addresses are blacked out; everything else is as the state publishes it.
Maine Secretary of State business services
Business registrations in Maine are held by the Maine Secretary of State, which maintains the public register this page searches, accepts new filings, and issues the certificates a bank or a counterparty may ask you for. Contact them directly for anything that has to be official.
| Business entity search | apps3.web.maine.gov/nei-sos-icrs/ICRS?MainPage=x |
|---|---|
| Phone | (207) 624-7752 |
| Address | Ballard Center, 6 E Chestnut St., 5th Floor, Augusta, ME 04333 |
| Office hours | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. |
| LLC filing fee | $175 |
| Processing | 35-40 business days |
The office handles registration, not disputes. If a name is already taken, they will tell you it is unavailable but not who holds it beyond what the public record shows, and they will not advise on whether your name infringes someone’s mark.
Common questions about Maine business entity searches
How do I check if an LLC exists in Maine?
Search the name on this page or on the state's own portal. What Maine does by default is worth knowing before you read the result: keyword match, no toggle. A match means the entity is on file, and its status line tells you whether it is still active.
How do I verify a company is registered in Maine?
Search the name, then open the record rather than reading the results line. An Information Summary: legal name, charter number, filing type and status on one row; filing date, expiration date and jurisdiction on the next. The status on the record is the one to trust: a dissolved company still appears in a search and still holds its name.
Does a clear search mean my Maine business name is approved?
Not on its own. A no-match result means the name is not on the Maine register today, which is a preliminary answer rather than approval: Maine Secretary of State decides when it reviews the filing. Worth knowing about Maine in particular: the same company can appear more than once under different name types. ACME BODY SHOP, INC. comes back twice, once as LEGAL and once as FORMER, and ACME TOWER GROUP appears as both ASSUMED and FORMER. Two rows are not two companies. Read the Name Type column before counting.
Can I look up who owns a business in Maine?
Maine names the Clerk/Registered Agent with an address and nothing else. No officers, no directors, no members on the record.
How much does it cost to register a business name in Maine?
Maine Secretary of State charges $175 to file the Certificate of Formation, which is the document that forms the company, and currently takes 35-40 business days to process. Reserving a name beforehand is a separate and smaller fee. Confirm the figure with the state before you file: schedules move.
Sources
- Maine business entity search, the official register this page queries.
- Filing fees and processing times: Maine Revised Statutes Title 31 section 1680, Filing and copying fees, verified 2026-09-10. Current schedules are published by the Maine Secretary of State.
- Formation activity: Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics, retrieved via FRED at the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
- Federal trademark data: United States Patent and Trademark Office, 3,374,058 live registrations cross-referenced against the state registers. Live excludes both abandoned applications and cancelled registrations.
- Office contact details: Maine Secretary of State, confirmed against the office’s own contact page.
- Naming and reporting rules: Maine Revised Statutes Title 31 section 1680, Filing and copying fees; penalties.
- Naming statute: Me. Rev. Stat. Title 31, Ch. 21, published by the state.
- State seal: public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.