Maine Secretary of State business search — LLC name check, trademark & domain lookup
Maine still processes most formation filings on paper, with a $175 LLC fee that is among New England's highest, and its annual report costs $85 every June. Its online search covers active and inactive records back decades, which matters because Maine treats a name as taken while the old entity is still within its reinstatement window.
Is it taken in Maine? — Enter the name exactly as you'd file it; the Maine registry, USPTO and domain registrars are checked together.
Check this name →How to check a business name in Maine
- Check the name as you'd file it. With the designator (LLC) attached — Maine compares the whole string.
- Verify at the source. The official Maine Secretary of State search is the record that counts; registrations change daily.
- Don't stop at the state line. A clear Maine result says nothing about federal trademarks or the domain; the checker covers both in the same run.
Maine naming rules: what the Maine Secretary of State will and won't accept
Every Maine filing is screened for a single thing before anything else: the name must be distinguishable upon the records of the Secretary of State. Swapping 'Inc.' for 'LLC', adding 'The', or changing a comma does not make a name distinguishable here. For an LLC the accepted endings are LLC, L.L.C., L.C. and Limited Liability Company; corporations take Corporation, Corp. and Incorporated.
Some words need permission first. In Maine that list includes Bank, Trust, Insurance, Cooperative and Credit Union — using one implies a regulated activity and the filing will be held until the relevant regulator consents.
The fees are straightforward: forming an LLC costs $175, a corporation $145 and a name reservation is $20 and holds the name for 120 days. Paper-heavy: 5-10 business days standard; 24-hour expedited for $50.
Keeping it: Annual report, $85, due June 1. Skip it and the state eventually dissolves the entity, releasing the name back into the pool.
Per the Maine Secretary of State, (207) 624-7752 — official website (fee schedule). Fees change; confirm before filing.
How busy is Maine right now?
Businesses in Maine filed 15,435 new business applications in the twelve months to August 2026 — +9.0% on the year before, the 46th-highest total of any state and 11.0 per 1,000 residents (ranked 50th per person). April was the busiest month with 1,722 applications, and Maine accounts for 0.2% of all U.S. filings.
Each application is a competitor for the same short, natural-sounding names, so the more active the state, the less a week-old search result is worth.
Where America starts businesses — all 50 states ranked →
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (monthly, not seasonally adjusted). 2019 comparison: 9,987 applications in calendar 2019.
What makes a name available in Maine?
- It must be distinguishable from names already on the Maine registry — usually more than a difference in punctuation, spacing, or an entity suffix.
- Only active registrations block a name. A dissolved or revoked entity with the same name typically doesn't stop you — though a recently inactive one can carry a reinstatement risk worth knowing about (our checker flags exactly that case).
- Entity suffixes are required, not decorative. An LLC's legal name must carry an LLC designator; a corporation needs Inc., Corp., or an equivalent accepted in Maine.
- Registry clearance is not trademark clearance. The Maine Secretary of State checks its own records only — it will register a name that infringes a federal trademark. Check both.
About the Maine Secretary of State
The Maine Secretary of State maintains Maine's registry of corporations, LLCs, and other registered entities — it is the system of record for Maine business names. Useful official resources:
- Official Maine business entity search — the state's own lookup.
- Maine Secretary of State — official website — filings, forms, fees, and contact details.
Using the official Maine search
- Search here first. The checker above covers the Maine registry plus federal trademarks and domains in one pass — most dead-end names are eliminated in seconds.
- Open the official Maine entity search and look up your shortlisted name exactly as you plan to file it, including the entity suffix.
- Review matching records — check each match's status (active registrations block a name; dissolved ones usually don't) and how close the spelling is to yours.
- File or reserve promptly. Availability is first-come-first-served; a name that's clear today can be registered by someone else tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a Maine registration protect my name in other states?
- No. It protects the name inside Maine's registry only. Nationwide protection comes from a federal trademark, which is why the checker runs the USPTO search alongside the Maine lookup.
- What does a Maine LLC name have to end with?
- One of the state's accepted designators — LLC, L.L.C., L.C. and Limited Liability Company. The checker searches the name with and without the suffix, because the suffix alone never makes a name distinguishable.
- Can I reserve a business name in Maine before I file?
- Yes. The Maine Secretary of State charges $20 to reserve a name for 120 days. A reserved name shows as taken to everyone else's search.
- How much does it cost to register a business name in Maine?
- The name itself is free to search. Filing the entity is what costs money: $175 for an LLC and $145 for a corporation, then annual report, $85, due june 1.
- Are there words I can't use in a Maine business name?
- Words that imply a regulated business need consent first. In Maine that includes Bank, Trust, Insurance, Cooperative and Credit Union. Names that suggest a government agency are refused outright.
- How many new businesses start in Maine each year?
- The Census Bureau counted 15,435 business applications in the twelve months to August 2026, +9.0% on the year before. Not every application becomes a registered entity, but each one is a name someone intends to use.
Still choosing a name? Try the Maine business name generator — every idea checked against the same registry.
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