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

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

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

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

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

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

You can easily Reserve a Louisiana Company Name by choosing one of the Louisiana Business Type options in the Louisiana Company Name Reservation Cost Estimator below.

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

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

Your Louisiana Company Name can identify the type of products and/or services your Louisiana Corporation or Louisiana 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 Louisiana Company Name that you choose must be distinguishable from the name of any other registered Louisiana Business entity and the name must also be different from any Reserved Company Names on record with the Louisiana Secretary of State.  Your Louisiana Company Name must not imply that it was formed for a purpose other than that stated in your formation documents and your Louisiana Company Name must not be a name that is likely to mislead the public.

If you are planning on starting a Louisiana Corporation then your name must include the words "Incorporated", "Corporation", "Inc." or "Corp.".  If you are planning on starting a Louisiana 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 Louisiana Company Name:

• Your Louisiana Company Name must include only English letters and numbers or Roman numerals.
• Punctuation DOES NOT make Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana Company Names distinguishable from each other.
• Louisiana Company Names are NOT DISTINGUISHABLE if the only difference is the abbreviation of a word in the name.  For example, "LA Auto Store, Inc." is not distinguishable from "Louisiana Auto Store, Inc."
• Louisiana 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 Louisiana Business because if you want to change it after you form your Louisiana Company you will have to file amended formation documents with the Louisiana Secretary of State (and pay a fee).

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

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

To find out how much it will cost to Reserve a Louisiana Company Name, choose a Louisiana Company Type Option on the Louisiana Company Name Reservation Cost Estimator on this web page below.  The total cost will be displayed automatically.

Processing times for new Louisiana 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 Louisiana Company Name Reservation takes the state around 2 business days. We are dependent on, and have no control over, the staff and systems of the Louisiana Secretary of State.

In our experience 2 business days is the time it usually takes the Louisiana Secretary of State to process a new Louisiana Company Name Reservation.  We get your Louisiana Company Reservation request to the LA Secretary of State ASAP.  Once it is at the state we have no control over the new Louisiana Company Name approval process.

Once you Reserve a Name for your Louisiana Company it is valid for 120 days.  You must file your Louisiana Business formation documents (Articles of Incorporation for new Corporations or Articles of Organization for new LLCs) with the Louisiana Secretary of State within that time period.

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