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The Indiana Secretary of State must approve all corporate names.
Many names are rejected because another company has already incorporated using that name.
To avoid having your incorporation papers rejected
because of name problems, it is best to reserve your corporate name first. | |
| Forms to use |
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Name Reservation Form |
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| Your name must satisfy 2 conditions |
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Your proposed corporate name:
- Must be acceptable to the Indiana Secretary of State; i.e. not misleading,
and clearly distinguishable from other corporate names
- Cannot infringe upon someone's trademark or tradename. The Secretary of State's office
will not confirm this; it is YOUR responsibility to do this. You can check name availability at
https://secure.in.gov/sos/bus_service/online_corps/name_availability.aspx
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| Non-Indiana businesses |
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If your true name is already taken in Indiana, contact the Secretary of State's
office for assistance. Your business may have to be registered using a fictitious name
at the state level. |
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| Cost |
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$20.00 |
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| Other businesses can use your name without Inc. or Corp. |
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Incorporating only protects your
full legal name (with Inc. or Corp.) from being used as the name of another Indiana corporation.
If you want to protect your business name from being used by others, you should consider
registering it as a trademark or a service mark. Simply registering it as a trademark however,
is not sufficient. You must consistently and continually use the trademark and watch for, and notify
possible infringes of your trademark. Please consult a business attorney for further information.
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| 120 day deadline
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Your name is reserved for 120 days. If your
Articles of Incorporation
aren't filed by then, you must start again, and re-reserve the name with the Secretary of State.
The law requires that you wait one day after your name reservation has expired to re-reserve the name.
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| Questions? |
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Visit
http://www.in.gov/sos/business/ or call 317.232.6531.
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