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Starting A Business Info

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HersheyC

New member
Hi: I live in Georgia and plan on starting an LLC in this state. The plan is to move to another state in the next couple of years and was wondering if I can transfer the business name to another state? If not, how can I achieve this by keeping the business name. I also plan to trademark it. Thank you for your answer.

Hershey
 


quincy

Senior Member
Hi: I live in Georgia and plan on starting an LLC in this state. The plan is to move to another state in the next couple of years and was wondering if I can transfer the business name to another state? If not, how can I achieve this by keeping the business name. I also plan to trademark it. Thank you for your answer.

Hershey
The simple answer is, Yes.

You can transfer your business to another state. If your business name is not already registered in the new state by another company, you should be able to register your current business name/trademark with this new state.
 

Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
Hi: I live in Georgia and plan on starting an LLC in this state. The plan is to move to another state in the next couple of years and was wondering if I can transfer the business name to another state? If not, how can I achieve this by keeping the business name. I also plan to trademark it. Thank you for your answer.

Hershey
You will have several ways you can go about moving the business to the other state. Which one is best will depend on the details of your business when you move and the laws of the state to which you are moving. You'd want to discuss that with a business and tax attorney when the time comes to move. Part of that discussion is how to keep using the same name for the business in the new state. The main challenge there will be if there is another firm in that state already using the same name you want to use for the business. If you already know the name you want to use and the state to which you will move you might want to search to see if your chosen name is already being used for a similar kind of business in any place you hope to do business. If you pick a name that is really unique you have less risk you'll have a problem with trademark infringement issues later.
 

quincy

Senior Member
... You'd want to discuss that with a business and tax attorney when the time comes to move. ... If you already know the name you want to use and the state to which you will move you might want to search to see if your chosen name is already being used for a similar kind of business in any place you hope to do business. If you pick a name that is really unique you have less risk you'll have a problem with trademark infringement issues later.
Taxing Matters brings up a good point. You can register your business name with a state if no other business is using the same name but you may not be able to use that name in commerce as an identifier for your business product or service if the name is already someone else's trademark.

You will want to do a trademark search before selecting a name for your business.

You can start your search by looking for federally registered trademarks at the United States Patent and Trademark Office - https://www.uspto.gov - and expand your search to state registered marks and, finally, look for unregistered but in-use marks (because trademarks in the U.S. do not need to be registered to be rights-protected).

This can be a time-consuming task so it can be easiest to create for your business a unique name (a made-up word, two unrelated words tacked together, a word used in a way that is different than its dictionary meaning).

I agree with Taxing Matters that discussing your plans with law and tax professionals is wise and advised.

Good luck.
 

HersheyC

New member
Thank you so much for your replies everyone. I guess I was also wondering how the companies like Nike, etc. are able to not have anyone register the Nike name in other states?
 

quincy

Senior Member
Thank you so much for your replies everyone. I guess I was also wondering how the companies like Nike, etc. are able to not have anyone register the Nike name in other states?
Nike is a famous trademark with federal registration. Because Nike is a famous mark, recognized by the consuming public as an identifier for specific goods, Nike can prevent ALL others from using the same name.

Using the name Nike (or using any other famous trademark) would cause consumer confusion. Trademark law centers on consumer confusion.
 

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