| Registering
a business or corporate name gives the owner the exclusive right
to the use of that name. Reserving a name temporarily protects
it while an entity is being organized.
When organized
or certified in Alaska, the names of the following entity types
are registered automatically: corporations, limited liability
companies, limited liability partnerships, limited partnerships,
cooperatives, non-profit corporations, foreign or domestic, and
Alaska religious corporations, professional corporations or BIDCOs.
AVAILABLE
NAMES
A name is available
to reserve or register if the name is distinguishable from
the names of existing organized entities and from names reserved
or registered. Organized entity means corporation, cooperative,
limited liability company, limited liability partnership and other
organizational types detailed in AS 10.35.040.
People who
have used a business name for a long period of time may have created
a common law right to the use of the name. Therefore, you are
strongly advised to conduct a thorough search BEFORE registering
or reserving a name, even though that name may be available
for registration. Places to look include, but are not limited
to, business license records, telephone directories, trade magazines,
trademark records, catalogs, and so on.
Restrictions
apply to business and corporate names, even if the name is otherwise
available. For example, an unincorporated business may not
use "incorporated" or "corporation" as part of its name, whereas
an incorporated name must contain "corporation", "company",
"incorporation", or "limited" , or an abbreviation, as part of
its name. A business or corporate name may not imply that
the organization is a governmental unit, e.g. a city, village
or borough. Names that mislead regarding corporate purpose are
not allowed. Vulgar names are not allowed.
Words used
to identify goods and services, used as slogans in advertising
or used to indicate association with an organization are trademarks
or service marks and cannot be registered as business names. Trademarks
can be filed for Alaska using form 08-565
or filed under the federal Lanham Act.
Words used
to identify an internet domain name or internet address cannot
be registered as business names.
RESERVATIONS
The application
to reserve a business or entity name costs $25. The reservation
is valid for 120 days. It is non-renewable. It may be transferred
by filing a notice of transfer.
RESERVING
AN ENTITY (CORPORATE) NAME
You may reserve
an entity name if you are: a person intending to organize an Alaska
corporation, a n Alaska corporation intending to change its name,
a foreign corporation intending to register in Alaska, a foreign
corporation registered in Alaska and intending to change your name,
a person intending to organize a foreign corporation to be registered
in Alaska.
RESERVING
A BUSINESS NAME
You may reserve
a business name if you are intending to do business using that name.
REGISTRATIONS
The application
to register an entity or business name costs $25. Registrations
are renewable, but no expiration notice is sent.
REGISTERING
AN ENTITY (CORPORATE) NAME
You may register
an entity if you are an organized and existing corporation of a
state or territory of the United States not registered to do business
in Alaska. The duration is through December 31st of the registered
year. This is renewable annually by reapplying between October 1st
and December 31st of the current year.
REGISTERING
A BUSINESS NAME
An initial business
name registration expires on the fifth December 31st after the day
of registration, e.g. if you register on April 4, 2006 the registration
will expire on December 31, 2010. The registration is renewable
at five-year intervals by reapplying between October 1st and December
31st of the year of expiration.
A corporation
registering a name for doing business as (DBA) must be
a domestic corporation or a foreign corporation certified in Alaska.
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