How to Check If a Business Name is Available in Texas

A critical first step in beginning your Texas-based company is picking the ideal company name. The name you desire must, however, be accessible and not in use by another firm before you may use it. We’ll go over the procedures you must follow to see if a business name is available in Texas in this article.

The Texas Secretary of State’s internet search is the first step in determining whether a business name is accessible in Texas. A list of all Texas-registered firms may be found in this database. Using the name you have in mind, you can search the database to see if it has already been taken. You will need to select a new name if the one you want is taken.

The following action is to reserve the name if you discover that it is available. For the following 120 days, no one else will be able to use the same name thanks to this. By submitting a Name Reservation Form and a $40 fee through the Texas Secretary of State’s website, you can reserve a name. You can make the reservation in person, by mail, or online.

You can register your business with the Texas Secretary of State after you have made sure the name is available and reserved it. This entails completing the needed paperwork and paying the requisite costs. Depending on the kind of business entity you decide to organize, the cost to register a business in Texas varies.

One strategy to safeguard your brand and stop others from exploiting it is to trademark your company name. There are ways to register a trademark without paying anything, even though it can be pricey. Using your company name in commerce and relying on common law trademark rights are two options. This means that even if you don’t formally register your name, you can trademark it by using it in your business and building a reputation for it.

In summary, the Texas Secretary of State’s database search, name reservation, and business registration are the steps involved in determining whether a business name is accessible in Texas. Although it can be expensive, there are ways to protect your brand without spending any money by trademarking a name. You can pick a distinctive and readily available name for your Texas-based company by adhering to these rules.