A step-by-step guide to applying a business name in California

How to apply for a business name

Your company name is the first thing that your customer encounters. Hence, businesses and non-profits should apply for and reserve their business name. Also, it becomes essential to choose a unique, catchy, relevant name that conveys the right message.

So, if you plan to start a new business and have an excellent name for the business in mind, there are some considerations in applying for that business name.

Ensure your business name is available

When your business has a unique name, it makes you stand out from the crowd.Picking the business name that represents your brand and at the same time ensuring legal protection of the business name in federal as well as state is recommended.

To make sure that the business name you are considering is available, you should conduct a business name search to check for its availability. You can take the support of a business name search tool to get to know whether there are any businesses with similar names that you have in mind.

You don’t possess any business name ownership until you register a trademark with your state. Whether you have a registered business or website domain, it doesn’t entitle you to the rights to the business name.

Applying for a business name

You can apply and register for your business name in two significant ways.

• Reserve a business name and apply for it at a later stage
• Apply directly for the business name.

Reserving the business name

While you are in the process of applying and registering the business name, you can reserve the business name for 60 days. Once this period is completed, you should choose to either reserve or give up the name. You can easily reserve the name online. If your proposed name is approved by the Secretary of State(SOS), you can now register your business.

Applying directly the business name

One can apply for a business name if it is made sure of its availability. If the availability is ensured and is original, then the business owner can directly apply. When an application is submitted to request to reserve a business name, it is checked for its offensiveness, ensuring it is not identical to other names on the SOS database.

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