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Does anyone know if there is a central database to look up if a company exists in the US? or perhaps a registered business name?

I know where the things are in Aus, but I don't have any idea where to look for a national one over there.


Anyone?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Calla, I know in Canada it is the Registry of Joint Stock, I am not sure about the States.

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

I may be missing the point here, but have you looked on the internet for a (the) name?

I don't think there is any type of all inclusive database. I think corporations have to be registered at the state level and so that info may be on each states website. Smaller business that are not corporations usually just file an assumed name or "DBA" (doing business as) at the county level, so there are some counties where you can look that up online. The Better Business Bureau also has a website at different levels to find out about businesses. I think the only businesses in the BBB are ones that have specifically registered with it or ones that have had complaints against them though??? I think I read that somewhere.

I looked online, and the name is there, I just wanted to know if it was a legally registered entity or simply a name someone was using.

So registrations in the US are state-based?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

As I understand it corporations and llcs (limited liability companies) register at the state level. In my state of Illinois you can search for information at the Secretary of States webpage http://cdsprod.ilsos.net/CorpSearchWeb/corpsrch.html . You can try to Google the state name with "corporation name search" or something similar to find that states page. I don't think there is much info available on smaller businesses though. Anybody can just register to use a business name for a sole proprietorship/partnership in their county for like $5 and the cost of a weekly newspaper ad.

Is that it?

And this protects them from others coming in and trying to use that business name?



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Yeah, pretty stupid isn't it. Here's a blurb I got off the website below about it...regarding others using the same business name:

"A DBA is not the same as incorporating your business. It is also not filing of a trademark, and it is not a business license. A DBA registration is merely an official county-level recording of the business's name and the real name of the person(s) operating a business. Bear in mind, in many cases, a DBA filing will not prevent others from also filing the same DBA business name. DBA's filed are generally not checked against existing government records by county clerks to see if the name is already in use. Therefore, there is no protection offered your business name. There could possibly be several businesses operating in the county as DBAs, all with the same name. However, according to the county laws, you are required to research your proposed name to see if it will conflict with an existing registered name. Moreover, even if your proposed name may not be in use in your specific county of operations, you would need to consider that there could be a corporation, LLC or other entity filed with the State government, or even an existing State or Federal trademark, which your proposed DBA name would infringe upon."

http://www.businesspipeline.com/pressreleases/article_79.htm

Last edited by mo at 08-Aug-2005 16:13