From 2012 to 2022, Georgia has achieved top 10 rankings for both GDP and job growth, making its economy one of the strongest around. In addition, CNBC named it fourth for their 2023 Top States for Business list. The Peach State is definitely where you want to be if you’re starting out as an entrepreneur.
To ensure you’re off to a strong start, you should learn how to carry out a Georgia business entity search. This will tell you which company names are already taken and it’ll help you create something that’s truly unique. Read on to discover how to do this and succeed.
Use the Georgia Secretary of State Business Search
In most states, the Secretary of State is in charge of business registrations and other related services. So it makes sense to start with this department.
To do a Georgia SOS business search, you’ll have to navigate to the Georgia Corporations Division page. There are three types of searches you can do here: business, service of process, and trademark.
Business Search
On the business search tab, you can select “starts with,” “contains,” or “exact match.” Then you can choose to search by business name, control number, registered agent name, or officer name.
Service of Process Search
On the service of process tab, you can also search with “starts with,” “contains,” or “exact match.” The parameters you can pick here are defendant name, plaintiff name, civil action number, or control number.
Trademark Search
As for the trademark search tab, again, you can pick “starts with,” “contains,” or “exact match.” But instead of choosing a parameter to search by, you have to fill out several boxes, such as:
- Registration number
- Mark name
- Registrant name
- Class of goods (dropdown)
- Class of services (dropdown)
- Identification of goods
- Identification of services
- Mark description
Search Results
For this section, we’ll assume you used the “Business Search” tab. Click on “Search” after you’ve entered all relevant information.
The results page will show you any hits, along with their business name, control number, business type, principal office address, registered/designated agent name, and status. Click on any business name to find out more about it.
For the individual company page, you’ll see its NAICS code, state of formation, date of formation/registration date, and last annual registration year. Plus, you’ll find the registered agent’s name and physical address.
If you want to do a trademark search, the results page will give you the mark name, registration number, mark type, class, registrant name, and status. Again, you can click on the name to view more details, such as:
- Date of first use anywhere
- Date of first use in Georgia
- Registration date
- Expiration date
- Mark description
- Disclaimer (if applicable)
- Mode or manner of use
- Drawing of the mark
- Registrant information
- Goods information
Check With a Search Engine
You can also do a Georgia business search by using any search engine. Just type in the desired business name with “Georgia state” at the end (to avoid confusion with the country by the same name). If you’re targeting a local area, it wouldn’t hurt to type in the city name(s) too.
On the results pages, you can look carefully to see if another entrepreneur has taken the company name you want. This is a good time to also check social media and domains. If everything’s available, you should register handles and buy domains to prevent others from pulling the rug out from underneath you.
Do Lookups on Our Business Name Search Tool
You might already know that we have a business registration service. If you don’t, then feel free to browse what this service entails and what add-ons are available, as well as how much they cost. We list everything so there’s no ambiguity.
In addition, you can do a GA business search on our site. Type in the business name where the search bar is, pick “LLC” or “corporation,” and then “Check availability.”
This is a simple, straightforward, and fast way to run a check. And if the name’s free, you can fill out your contact information and we’ll reach out. We can then discuss what the perfect plan is for you.
Do a Georgia Business Entity Search
If you want to start a company, then an essential step is doing a Georgia business entity search.
Many entrepreneurs have run into copyright and trademark issues, so don’t follow in their footsteps. This search is so easy to do, and it’s free too. By taking the extra time to do research, you’ll have peace of mind for the rest of the process.
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