Don't Confuse Registration of Your Domain Name with Minnesota Registration of Your Business Name

Just because you were able to register the intended name of your new business as your Internet domain name doesn’t mean that you have rights to operate your business under that name in Minnesota.

You also must register your proposed business name with the Minnesota Secretary of State before you can operate under that name in Minnesota. And, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office won’t accept your registration unless the name that you select for your business is “distinguishable” from the names of other existing Minnesota businesses.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office generally interprets a proposed business name as distinguishable from other businesses registered in Minnesota if there is one different word in the name. However, if the only word that differs is “Inc.” or “LLC”, “Company”, “Corporation”, “Partnership”, or other ending, then the names are not considered distinguishable.

Among other variations that aren’t accepted in Minnesota as distinguishable are the use of abbreviations vs. the spelling out of a word, obvious misspellings or alternative spellings, and the use of articles such as “an” or “the” in the name.

Furthermore, the distinguishable test is applied to all businesses on file with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office – whether the business is based in Minnesota or is based in another state but has filed as a “foreign” entity to also operate in Minnesota.

And, just because Minnesota’s Secretary of State has accepted your name registration, there is no guarantee that there isn’t another company that already has a federal trademark or common law right to the business name you picked. In other words, there could be another company out there already using your business name. If that company isn’t required to register with Minnesota’s Secretary of State, the Minnesota Secretary of State office may not be aware of the existence of the other company.

©2013 Wittenburg Law Office, PLLC. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: This Blog is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. If you have questions, please seek the advice of an attorney.  An attorney-client relationship is not formed by reading this Blog. If you are interested in Wittenburg Law’s representation of you, you must contact Wittenburg Law for a determination of whether your matter is one for which Wittenburg Law is willing and able to accept representation of you.

Bonnie Wittenburg, Wittenburg Law Office, PLLC, Minnetonka, MN 952-649-9771  www.bwittenburglaw.com    bonnie@bwittenburglaw.com