Arizona corporation search and business entity search

Arizona Business Search and Name Availability Search

The Arizona Business Center, run by the Corporation Commission, holds a Business Search and a Name Availability Search. You can search by Business Name or by Business ID. Each search offers Starts With, Contains and Exact Match, so a name is worth running under all three.

The Commission calls its Name Availability Search a convenience. It tells the applicant to verify independently that a proposed name does not conflict with business names, trade names, trademarks and other intellectual property. Checking whether a business name is taken covers those other sources.

AZ LLC lookup: what counts as a different name

Section 29-3112 requires an LLC name to be distinguishable on the records of the Commission or the Secretary of State. Reserved names, registered names and trade names registered under section 44-1460 all count as records to compare against.

Words that show the kind of entity are set aside in that comparison. Corporation, Corp., Incorporated, Inc. and professional corporation are examples in the statute. Two names that differ only by such a word are not different in Arizona.

Words Arizona restricts

An LLC name may not contain association, corporation or incorporated, or an abbreviation of them. A corporate name goes the other way and may not contain limited liability company, limited company, L.L.C., L.C., LLC or LC.

Both statutes bar bank, deposit, credit union, trust and trust company when the name suggests banking or trust business. The exception is a company that is, or becomes, actively and substantially engaged in that business, or a holding company with a substantial interest in such companies. The name endings each state accepts lists what Arizona does require.

Trade names at the Arizona Secretary of State

Arizona sends trade names to the Secretary of State under section 44-1460. The applicant files on a form the Secretary of State furnishes and states that a search found the trade name distinguishable on the record. The Secretary of State runs its own trade name search.

A registered trade name then blocks an LLC from taking the same name. How a trade name differs from an LLC name is covered in fictitious business names explained.

Reserving an Arizona name and the filing fees

The corporation statute on reserved names holds a corporate name for a nonrenewable 120-day period. Section 29-3113 gives LLC names the same 120 days and does not say whether the hold can be renewed.

The Commission's statutory fee for initial articles of organization is $50 under the LLC fee statute. The corporation fee statute also puts articles of incorporation at $50 and lists a $10 application for use of an indistinguishable corporate name. The LLC cost calculator places the $50 beside the other costs of forming.

Checking and claiming a name in Arizona

1. Run the name in the Business Search under Starts With, Contains and Exact Match.
2. Try the Commission's Name Availability Search on the same words.
3. Search the Secretary of State's trade name records for the same words.
4. Add an ending that section 29-3112 accepts for an LLC, or one that section 10-401 accepts for a corporation.
5. Reserve the name for 120 days if you need the time, or file the $50 articles directly.