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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Processing times for new Washington 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 Washington Company Name Reservation takes the state around 10-12 weeks.

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

In our experience 10-12 weeks is the time it usually takes the Washington Secretary of State to process a new Washington Company Name Reservation.  We get your Washington Company Reservation request to the WA Secretary of State ASAP.  Once it is at the state we have no control over the new Washington Company Name approval process.

Once you Reserve a Name for your Washington Company it is valid for 180 days.  You must file your Washington Business formation documents (Articles of Incorporation for new Corporations or Articles of Organization for new LLCs) with the Washington Secretary of State within that time period.

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

If you are ready to Reserve a Washington 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.