Oklahoma is a business-friendly state with millions of entrepreneurs starting new companies every year. Most of these are small businesses, and the growing trend is for these new business owners to form their business as limited liability companies.
The LLC comes with tax and liability advantages, and every new LLC in Oklahoma needs a name. No matter how memorable or appropriate a name you dream up, however, you can’t use it unless is conforms to Oklahoma law. A key requirement is that the name be unique and that it can be distinguished from every other registered business name in the state.
The name you choose must be available in the state of Oklahoma. That means that no business is already using that name or an indistinguishably similar one. If the name is taken, your Articles of Organization will be rejected when you file them, and you won’t be able to start doing business.
You could check by entering your desired name in a search engine and seeing what pops up, but there’s a better and more reliable way. That’s to use the Search Business Entities web page provided by the Oklahoma Secretary of State.
If you fail to do a proper business entity search, you may set yourself for unnecessary delays in getting your new venture off the ground.
To start your search, go to the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Search Corporation Entities web page.
You’ll notice an Advanced Search link, which allows you to filter the search or change the type of the search field. For an entity search, the unfiltered search is most useful. (Selecting the Search All option does the same unfiltered search.) Click the Search button to see a list of similar names that already exist.
For each entity, you’ll see the business type. In the far right column, the status tells you whether it’s a legal name or a trade name, and whether it’s currently active. If you want to know more about any of these businesses, click the Filing Number link.
Scroll through the list to see if any entities are indistinguishable from yours. If not, the name you chose is available.
Some tips:
You should also check to see if your potential name has been registered as a trademark. Trademarks are at the national level, and if you use one as a business name, you’re at risk for committing an infringement. You can check trademarks with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office.
If you plan to have a website, you may want your domain name to be the same as your business name. You can search to see whether it’s available with tools such as GoDaddy and Namechk.
You can use a trade name, also called a Doing Business As (DBA) or assumed name, if you want to be known to the public by something other than your legal name. You might do this if you’ve added a new line of business or if you want to include the town name of a new location. For a fee of $25, you can file a Trade Name Report to register the name with the Secretary of State.
Once you have a name that’s available and that you’re satisfied with, there are several potential next steps:
To ensure that the name you want for your LLC is available in Oklahoma. Your Articles of Organization will be rejected if your name is not unique or not distinguishable from an existing business name in the state.
Use the Secretary of State’s Search Corporate Entities page. Enter the name, click Search, and review the list of company names that most closely match.
The fee is $10, and the reservation is good for 60 days.
Yes. You must file a Trade Name Report and register the name with the Oklahoma Secretary of State.
The name must include wording that it’s an LLC. It must not imply that the company is a government agency. It must not appear to be a financial institution or professional organization if it is not one. It must meet the state guidelines for being distinguishable from existing business names.
You will have to choose a different name. The process will be easier if you have several names in mind when you start out.
Your LLC name should be accurate and memorable, and it must be available and legal in Oklahoma. Once you have followed the rules and used an entity search to ensure that your name is good to go, you’re ready to file your Articles of Organization and start doing business. You should also consider trademarking your name and claiming it as an internet domain name.
This portion of our website is for informational purposes only. Tailor Brands is not a law firm, and none of the information on this website constitutes or is intended to convey legal advice. All statements, opinions, recommendations, and conclusions are solely the expression of the author and provided on an as-is basis. Accordingly, Tailor Brands is not responsible for the information and/or its accuracy or completeness. It also does not indicate any affiliation between Tailor Brands and any other brands, services or logos.
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