Montana Business Name Search

Montana Business names are reserved and held with the Montana Secretary of State.

A DBA name in Montana actually reserves the name from LLCs and corporations using it.  Montana is one of the only states protecting LLCs and Corporations from taking DBA names.  DBAs last 5 years and must be renewed.

Montana LLC and corporation names last till every April 15th when the annual report is due. If you get administratively dissolved, you have 5 years before your name becomes available to the general public.

If you’re looking to have someone help you form a Montana business, we only charge $100 to make the filing for you, and we file electronically faster than you could on your own.

In Montana the following variations of endings fall under a limited liability company (LLC)

  • Limited Company
  • Limited Liability Company
  • L.L.C
  • L.C.
  • LLC
  • LLC.
  • LC.
  • LC
  • Ltd Co
  • Limited and Company can be abbreviated as Ltd and Co

Corporation variations are:

  • Corporation
  • Incorporated
  • Inc.
  • Corp.

You can do a MT Business Name search here: http://app.mt.gov .

Please note: When you’re doing a name search, their search box has a quirky way of treating punctuation, symbols and numbers.

  • For instance, punctuation like commas, periods and apostrophes aren’t supposed to be entered when searching.
  • The ampersand symbol “&” is supposed to be converted to the word “and.”
  • Numbers have to be spelled out as words. If you have “49” in your name, spell it out as “forty nine.”

I know, it kind of makes searching awkward if not pointless, because you are allowed to use symbols and punctuation in your business name. Anyhow, there are more search tips at http://app.mt.gov, if you’re having difficulty with their name search system.

When choosing a name, it must be distinguishable from other names already registered.  Montana is fairly lax on these interpretations.  For example:  If you wanted to use the name JRP LLC and it was already taken, you could use “JRP Enterprises LLC”  which doesn’t really seem like that much difference, but it will get the name approved.

Once you find a name you would like to use, please sign up here: Incorporation Service Signup for our business formation services, or here: Registered Agent Signup for our registered agent services.