There are many companies that do business in the state of Illinois and each has a unique Business Name for their Illinois Company.

If you have an idea for a Business, the Name of your Illinois Company can be very important for a number of reasons.  The right Name for your Illinois Company can increase sales and make your Illinois Business more credible.

Reserving a name for your Illinois Company could reduce the processing time for your application to form an Illinois Corporation or LLC with the Illinois Secretary of State.

Illinois Company Name Reservation protects a Business Name by giving the owner exclusive rights to the use of that Company Name during the time the Illinois Company is being organized and afterward while doing Business in the state of Illinois.

We can Reserve your Illinois Company Name with the Illinois Secretary of State for only $29 + Illinois state fees.

We will check to make sure that your Illinois Company Name is available and conforms to all state of Illinois Business Naming regulations.

You can easily Reserve an Illinois Company Name by choosing one of the Illinois Business Type options in the Illinois Company Name Reservation Cost Estimator just to the right; then clicking on the Order Form link.

Please note that the availability of an Illinois Company Name can change at any time so if you're worried that someone else may snatch your Illinois Company Name you might want to Reserve that Illinois Company Name online today.

You need to use an Illinois Company Name which is not the same or too similar to the Business Name of any other entity operating in the state of Illinois.  The Illinois Secretary of State will not approve an Illinois Company Name which is so similar to another Illinois Company Name (Corporation or LLC) as to be likely to be mistaken for it.

Your Illinois Company Name can identify the type of products and/or services your Illinois Corporation or Illinois LLC will provide; or it may be the name of the founder; or it can be a combination of the two or even something else.

In any case, the Illinois Company Name that you choose must be distinguishable from the name of any other registered Illinois Business entity and the name must also be different from any Reserved Company Names on record with the Illinois Secretary of State.  Your Illinois Company Name must not imply that it was formed for a purpose other than that stated in your formation documents and your Illinois Company Name must not be a name that is likely to mislead the public.

If you are planning on starting an Illinois Corporation then your name must include the words "Incorporated", "Corporation", "Inc." or "Corp.".  If you are planning on starting an Illinois LLC then your name must include the words "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company".

Here are some general guidelines to keep in mind when you come up with your Illinois Company Name:

• Your Illinois Company Name must include only English letters and numbers or Roman numerals.
• Punctuation DOES NOT make Illinois Company Names distinguishable from each other.
  For example, "A.B.C., Inc." is not distinguishable from "ABC, Inc."
• Plural forms of the same word DO NOT make the Illinois Company Names distinguishable from each other.
• A suffix added to a word or any other deviation from or derivative of the same word DOES NOT make Illinois Company Names distinguishable from each other.
• Illinois Company Names are NOT DISTINGUISHABLE if the only difference is the abbreviation of a word in the name.  For example, "IL Auto Store, Inc." is not distinguishable from "Illinois Auto Store, Inc."
• Illinois Company Names are NOT DISTINGUISHABLE if the only difference is a phonetic spelling of the same word.  For example, "Boyz, Inc." is not distinguishable from "Boys, Inc."

It's important to choose a good name for your Illinois Business because if you want to change it after you form your Illinois Company you will have to file amended formation documents with the Illinois Secretary of State (and pay a fee).

Exclusive rights gives the person who Reserved a Company Name for an Illinois Business the exclusive right to the use of that name.

An exclusive right means that no one else may use the Illinois Company Name which you Reserved for your Illinois Business.  This includes both the time during which you are forming your Illinois Corporation or LLC and afterward when you are doing Business in the state of Illinois.

To find out how much it will cost to Reserve an Illinois Company Name, choose an Illinois Company Option on one of the Illinois Company Name Reservation Cost Calculators on this web page.  The total cost will be displayed automatically.

Processing times for new Illinois Company Name Reservations vary depending on the work load of the Secretary of State's staff.  We've found that normal processing of a new Illinois Company Name Reservation takes the state around 2-3 weeks.

We are dependent on, and have no control over, the staff and systems of the Illinois Secretary of State.

In our experience 2-3 weeks is the time it usually takes the Illinois Secretary of State to process a new Illinois Company Name Reservation.  We get your Illinois Company Reservation request to the IL Secretary of State ASAP.  Once it is at the state we have no control over the new Illinois Company Name approval process.

Once you Reserve a Name for your Illinois Company it is valid for 90 days.  You must file your Illinois Business formation documents (Articles of Incorporation for new Corporations or Articles of Organization for new LLCs) with the Illinois Secretary of State within that time period.

If you don't use the Illinois Company Name which you have Reserved you can Reserve it again unless some other Illinois Business has Reserved the Name before you do.

If you are ready to Reserve an Illinois Company Name Online now, simply fill in the Company Name Reservation Order Form below and press the Place Order button. If you have any questions you can call us at 855-771-2477 or email us at CorpServices@AllBizDocs.com.