Delaware Business Name Reservation

If you are thinking to register a business in Delaware, you may consider reserving the business name first.

As the formation of business can take some time. There is a lot to think about like the type of business to form, discussing between the partner(s) about the equity and getting filing documents ready. From my experience, the whole process can extend quite a bit.

So, by paying a  fee of $70, you can protect the business name you have chosen from being registered by someone else till you are ready for filing. The business name can be reserved for the period of 120 days which can be further renewed and transferred.

Delaware Business Name Requirement

Delaware Secretary of State has mandated certain requirements which you must keep in mind while selecting a business name.

The business name must be unique and distinguishable from any existing business entity name registered with Secretary of State. Also any difference in grammar, similarly sounding business name, or using stop words does not make the business name unique and it will lead to the name being rejected.

For example following names are not distinguishable:

• Justin Plumber LLC vs The Justin Plumber LLC
• Mango Farm LLC vs Mango Farms LLC
• Jake & Mary Corporation vs Jake and Mary Corporation

Required suffix in the business name:

• For Corporations:
  Must contain either “Association”, “Company”, “Corporation”, “Club”, “Foundation”, “Fund”, “Incorporated”, “Institute”, “Society”, “Union”, “Syndicate” or “Limited” or an abbreviation of one of such words.
• For LLC
  Must end with either “Limited Liability Company”, “L.L.C.”, “LLC”, “Association”, “Company”, “Club”, “Foundation”, “Fund”, “Institute”, “Society”, “Union”, “Syndicate”, “Limited” or “Trust”.

Prohibited words:

• Language stating or implying the entity is formed for an impermissible purpose.
• Certain words such as college, bank, insurance etc are restricted to use without approval from the concerned board.

Check for Business Name Availability

Now that you are aware of the rules and regulations to be followed while naming the business, you can now proceed to the actual name selection.

Delaware SOS provides an online tool to check the availability of any business name. You can use this tool to find and research name for your business. We have written an in-depth tutorial on how to conduct the business name search here.

How to Reserve Business Name

Business name reservation can be filed by mail or online. We recommend filing it online as the process is instant.

By Online:

1. Open Delaware name reservation page – Link.
2. Select the entity type and enter the business name you would like to reserve.
3. Click on ‘Search‘ button.
4. On the next page, you can view if the name is available for registration or not.
5. Proceed with the payment of $75.

By Mail:

Download Form	LLC Corporation Partnership
Fees	$75
Address	Delaware Division of Corporations 401 Federal Street – Suite 4 Dover, DE 19901
Processing Time	Around 3 days after the receipt

1. Download the name reservation form – Link.
2. Fill the form with the requested details.
3. Include the money order/check drawn in favor of “Delaware Secretary of State“.
4. Send the filled form to
   Delaware Division of Corporations
   401 Federal Street – Suite 4
   Dover, DE 19901

Contact

For any queries, you can contact the SOS at (302)-739-3073 during business hours.

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Reference:

• http://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c018/index.shtml

Last Updated: 25/09/2018

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