Does registering a business name protect it?
Last updated .
No, not in the way most people assume. Registering with a Secretary of State records your name on that state’s register and prevents another filing in that state that is not distinguishable from it. That is the entire scope of what you get.
What state registration does not do
- It does not create trademark rights.
- It does not stop a business in another state using the name.
- It does not stop anyone using the name as a brand without registering an entity at all.
- It does not protect you if the name already infringes an existing mark. Registering it does not make it yours, and the state does not check.
- It does not give you the domain, the handle, or any right to them.
The states say this themselves. Texas words it on its own filing pages: filing a name “does not give you any right to use the assumed name in a way that violates the law, including… trademark, and it does not prevent anyone else from filing the same assumed name or using the name to form a new entity”.
The two systems, side by side
- State registration. One state. Administered by the Secretary of State. Protects against a confusingly similar filing on that register. Costs a filing fee. Immediate.
- Federal trademark. Nationwide. Administered by the USPTO. Protects the use of the mark in commerce for the goods or services you registered it for. Costs more, takes months, and can be refused.
- Common law rights. Arise from actually using a name in trade, without registering anything. Limited to the area you genuinely operate in, and hard to enforce, but real — and they can be held by a business that never appears on any register.
Where this goes wrong in practice
The usual sequence is that someone checks the state register, finds the name clear, files, prints signage, buys a domain, and then hears from a mark holder eighteen months later. Nothing in the state process would have flagged it. The register the state checks and the register that would have caught it are different registers, held by different offices, with no connection between them.
We hold 3,374,058 federal marks and have measured that gap, because it is where the expensive surprises live.
What state registration costs, by state
This is what you are paying for when you register a name, and it is worth seeing next to what it does not buy.
| Jurisdiction | LLC filing fee | Expedited | Typical processing | Official search |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $200 | $100 | 3-5 business days | arc-sos.state.al.us |
| Alaska | $250 | $100 | 10-15 business days | commerce.alaska.gov |
| Arizona | $50 | not offered or not published | 14-16 business days | ecorp.azcc.gov |
| Arkansas | $45 | $25 | 3-5 business days | sos.arkansas.gov |
| California | $70 | $350 | 5-7 business days | bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov |
| Colorado | $50 | not offered or not published | Immediate for online filings | coloradosos.gov |
| Connecticut | $120 | not offered or not published | 5-7 business days | service.ct.gov |
| Delaware | $110 | not offered or not published | 3-5 weeks | icis.corp.delaware.gov |
| District of Columbia | $99 | $220 | 4-5 business days | corponline.dcra.dc.gov |
| Florida | $100 | $50 | Processed in the order received | search.sunbiz.org |
| Georgia | $110 | not offered or not published | 7 to 10 business days online, 15 business days paper | ecorp.sos.ga.gov |
| Hawaii | $50 | not offered or not published | Not specified | hbe.ehawaii.gov |
| Idaho | $100 | not offered or not published | 5-7 business days | sosbiz.idaho.gov |
| Illinois | $500 | not offered or not published | 5-10 business days | apps.ilsos.gov |
| Indiana | $95 | $50 | 7-10 business days | bsd.sos.in.gov |
| Iowa | $50 | $25 | 5-10 business days | sos.iowa.gov |
| Kansas | $85 | $40 | within minutes for online filing | kansas.gov |
| Kentucky | $40 | $10 | 4-6 business days | sos.ky.gov |
| Louisiana | $100 | not offered or not published | routine processing (no specific timeframe given) | coraweb.sos.la.gov |
| Maine | $175 | $50 | 35-40 business days | apps1.web.maine.gov |
| Maryland | $100 | not offered or not published | 4-6 weeks (paper), 6-8 weeks (online non-expedited), 3-4 weeks current | egov.maryland.gov |
| Massachusetts | $500 | not offered or not published | 5-10 business days | corp.sec.state.ma.us |
| Michigan | $50 | $50 | 7-10 business days | mibusinessregistry.lara.state.mi.us |
| Minnesota | $155 | not offered or not published | 5-7 business days | mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us |
| Mississippi | $50 | $50 | 3-5 business days | corp.sos.ms.gov |
| Missouri | $50 | not offered or not published | 5-10 business days | bsd.sos.mo.gov |
| Montana | $35 | not offered or not published | 2 weeks | biz.sosmt.gov |
| Nebraska | $100 | $50 | approximately a week for document review | nebraska.gov |
| Nevada | $425 | $125 | 2-3 weeks | esos.nv.gov |
| New Hampshire | $100 | $25 | within 30 days | quickstart.sos.nh.gov |
| New Jersey | $125 | not offered or not published | 3-5 business days | njportal.com |
| New Mexico | $50 | $100 | 1-3 business days | enterprise.sos.nm.gov |
| New York | $200 | not offered or not published | 2-3 weeks | apps.dos.ny.gov |
| North Carolina | $125 | $100 | 5-10 business days | sosnc.gov |
| North Dakota | $135 | $20 | 5-7 business days | firststop.sos.nd.gov |
| Ohio | $99 | $100 | 5-7 business days | businesssearch.ohiosos.gov |
| Oklahoma | $104 | $25 | about 15 minutes | sos.ok.gov |
| Oregon | $100 | $50 | 5-10 business days | sos.oregon.gov |
| Pennsylvania | $125 | $100 | 7-10 business days | file.dos.pa.gov |
| Rhode Island | $150 | $50 | 5-7 business days | business.sos.ri.gov |
| South Carolina | $110 | $50 | 5-7 business days | businessfilings.sc.gov |
| South Dakota | $150 | not offered or not published | normal course of business | sosenterprise.sd.gov |
| Tennessee | $300 | $100 | 5-10 business days | tncab.tnsos.gov |
| Texas | $300 | $25 | 10-12 business days (online SOS Direct), 13-15 business days (online SOS Upload), 4-8 weeks plus mail time (paper) | comptroller.texas.gov |
| Utah | $59 | $75 | 5-7 business days | businessregistration.utah.gov |
| Vermont | $155 | $25 | 7-10 business days for mail filings, less than 1 business day for online filings | bizfilings.vermont.gov |
| Virginia | $100 | $200 | 24 hours online | cis.scc.virginia.gov |
| Washington | $180 | not offered or not published | 5-10 business days | ccfs.sos.wa.gov |
| West Virginia | $130 | not offered or not published | 5-7 business days | apps.sos.wv.gov |
| Wisconsin | $130 | not offered or not published | 5-10 business days | apps.dfi.wi.gov |
| Wyoming | $100 | $100 | Up to 15 business days | wyobiz.wyo.gov |
Common questions
Does an LLC name protect my brand?
Only against another filing in that state. It creates no trademark rights and does not stop a business in another state, or an online business anywhere, using the same name.
Do I need a trademark if I have an LLC?
They do different jobs. The LLC registers the entity with a state; a trademark protects the brand in commerce nationally. Whether you need one depends on how far the brand travels, and it is a question for an attorney.
Can someone trademark a name I already use?
Possibly, and prior use matters in the analysis, but state registration is not what decides it. This is exactly the situation where the cost of an attorney is smaller than the cost of being wrong.
You can check a name against all 50 states and the District of Columbia from the search on our home page. Every result links back to the state office that holds the record.
Sources reviewed
The sources below were retrieved and confirmed in August 2026. Filing requirements and fees change with legislative sessions and agency rulemaking; check the state’s own page before acting on anything here. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.
- Filing fees and processing times published by each Secretary of State or equivalent business filing office.
- Official business entity search portals for all 51 jurisdictions, each retrieved and confirmed to resolve. The full list appears in the table above.
Related
Other questions about the name itself, and the registers they apply to: