Welcome to the LLC Name Research Video.There are a few things to keep in mind when selecting
your LLC name.
Your desired LLC name must be "distinguishable" and cannot be too similar to the names of
existing organized entities.
There are also certain restrictions and requirements to keep in mind regarding the use of certain
words and abbreviations.
Suffixes and different business types do not constitute a difference.
For, example, the name "Business Enterprises, LLC" would not be available for use if there
was an active corporation filed under the name "Business Enterprises, Incorporated".
The singular, plural, and possessive forms of a word are considered the same, and spaces
and punctuation do not constitute a difference.
Inserting the words "A", "An", "The", "and", or using the ampersand symbol constitute a
difference either.
For example, "Umbrellas, LLC", "An Umbrella, Incorporated" and "The Umbrella, Limited"
are considered the same and are not distinguishable from one another.
Neither are the names "Apple Orange, LLC", "Apples and Oranges, LLC" and "Apple and Orange
Limited".
The word "Florida", the abbreviation "FL", or the words "of Florida" at the end of the
name do not constitute a difference either.
For example, "PGM Logistics, LLC" would not be available for use if there was an active
LLC with the name "PGM Logistics of Florida, LLC".
Your LLC name will be available for use if there are no other names like it.
You will also need to pay attention to the status of existing registered names in the
search results as some are available for use, and some are not.
Names with an "Inactive" or "Inact" status are available for use.
These are prior business names which have since expired and are now available to new
businesses.
Names with the "Active", "Act", or "Inactive/UN" (for "Inactive and Unavailable") are not available
for use.
Active names are currently registered business names and an inactive and unavailable name
is not yet available for new businesses to use.
We will go into detail through our examples in our online search.
Since an LLC is not a Corporation, you cannot use the words "Incorporated" or "Corporation"
or an abbreviation of either, such as "Inc." or "Corp.".
Your LLC name must end with the words "Limited Liability Company", or the abbreviations "L.L.C."
or "LLC".
The abbreviation "LLC" is the most common.
If your LLC will be used in conducting business with others, you may want to make it easy
to remember, easy to spell, and something remarkable.
We also recommend thinking of an alternative name, now in case you find yours is unavailable.
Example, your desired LLC name is "Speedy Delivery Services, LLC", and an alternative
would be "Quick Delivery, LLC" or, "At Your Door Quick, LLC".
Keep in mind that if after you submit your Articles of Organization (which is discussed
in Lesson 2) and it is discovered that your name is not available for use, the Division
of Corporations will send back your filing with details on what needs to be changed.
There are no additional costs associated with this.
We are now ready to search your desired LLC name against all the registered entities in
Florida.
The link below this video will take you to the state's online database.
Let's head over to the state's website.
This is what the search page will look like.
If for any reason the link below this video did not work, please go www.Sunbiz.org.
Once on the homepage, scroll down and on the left click "Search our Records".
Underneath "Corporations, Trademarks.
Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies", click the 1st link which is "Inquire
by Name".
For our 1st example, we will use "Bagels With Lox, LLC".
I'm now going to type "Bagels With Lox" into the search bar, and then click "Search Now".
Capitalization is not important, and don't enter the suffix, such as "Limited Liability
Company" or the letters "LLC".
You can just enter the 1st part.
Once the search results are displayed, you have to look through the alphabetical list
and find the LLC name.
Here you can see "Bagels With Lox, LLC", and if you scroll over to the right under "Status,
this is "Active".
That means that this is a registered business and I cannot use that name for my LLC.
Remember, if you see the status "Active", "Act", "Inactive/UN", (which is "Inactive
and Unavailable") or you see "Name HS", any of those names will not be available for use.
I'm now going to click the back button and let's try another search.
For this example I'm going to use "The Ride Adventures, LLC".
I've entered the words "the ride adventures" and I'm going to click "Search Now".
You'll see here in our search results that the 1st one that came up was "Ride Adventures,
LLC" and if I look under status, this is an active registered business.
Although my desired name was "The Ride Adventures, LLC", there's already a business with the
name "Ride Adventures, LLC".
Remember, the words "The", "An", "A", and ampersand (&), or a space, don't constitute
a difference.
In this example, I cannot use this name.
I'm going to hit the back button again, and we'll do another example.
For this example, I'm going to go with the name "Ship's Cafe of Florida, LLC".
I've entered the words and I'm now going to click "Search Now".
Sometimes you need to scroll through the list in order see whether or not there is a similar
name.
Since i typed in "ship's cafe", I'm realizing that the 1st results are a little bit ahead
in alphabetical order.
I'm going to scroll down, and click "Previous List", and I'm going to scroll down to the
bottom.
You'll see at the bottom here, I found "Ship's Cafe, LLC", and although I wanted the name
"Ship's Cafe of Florida, LLC", using the word "Florida", the abbreviation "FL" or the words
"of Florida" does not constitute a difference.
And in this case, because this business is active, I cannot use this name.
Let's go back to the search screen and do another example.
For this example, the desired LLC name is "Consulting Across Borders".
I've entered the desire name and will click "Search Now".
For this example, you'll see that we've come across " Consulting Across Borders, Incorporated".
However, if you look to the right-hand side, this name is "Inactive", which means it's
available for use.
The status "Inact" or "Inactive" means that the name has expired and is now available
for new businesses.
If this were my LLC name of choice, I could now move forward onto the next step, which
is the Articles of Organization.
Let's do 1 more example.
Let's go with the name "Baya Management, LLC".
I've typed in the words "baya management" and I'm going to click "Search Now".
As I scroll through this list, I realized that there are no other existing businesses
with even the word "baya", let alone "baya management" or something similar.
For this example, I could move forward with the name "Baya Management, LLC".
If you have specific questions regarding your LLC's name availability, you can call the
Division of Corporations directly at 850-245-6051.
Once you have found a name that either no one else has registered, or a name that has
an "Inactive" status, you're ready to move forward onto the next step.
Please see Lesson 2 for instructions on how to file the Articles of Organization.
This now concludes the Name Research Video.