Montana Business Entity Search & Naming Your LLC

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Naming Your Business

Whether you’re searching for the right business name or registering your LLC with the Montana Secretary of State, Bizee can help. We have all the information you need to know on how to conduct a Montana business search, plus LLC naming rules, assumed names and registering your business.

General Rules for LLC Names

These rules typically apply to all LLCs, regardless of which state they're formed in.

Your LLC name should be original, but that’s not enough. It also cannot be similar to the name of a corporation or LLC in Montana. For example, you cannot use the following factors to say your name is different and distinguishable from the name of another business:

Suffixes, such as Corporation, Company, Incorporated, Incorporation, Limited, Corp., Co., Inc., Ltd., LLC, etc.

Definite articles, such as “A,” “An,” or “The”

The conjunction "And," or “&"

The singular, plural or possessive forms of words

Abbreviations, punctuation, symbols, fonts, typefaces, etc.

Most states will not allow you to form LLCs with names that:

Are very similar to the name of a federal or state agency or organization (e.g., FBI, FDA, Montana Comptroller, Montana Police, Treasury, etc.)

Suggest affiliation with a federal or state agency or organization

Use the term “Olympic” or any terms that are trademarks of the International Olympic Committee

Imply a purpose that would be illegal for your business to carry out

Specific Rules for Montana Business Names

As mentioned above, Montana requires LLCs to comply with the general naming rules. Unlike many other states, the state of Montana doesn't require further naming regulations to be met.

How to Come Up With Business Name

Finding the perfect business name can be elusive. We have a complete guide to choosing the right business name, but essentially, you'll want to choose a name that will:

Appeal to your customers
Be memorable enough to stand out
Best represent your product or services
Not be used by another business

Read Our Guide to Choosing a Business Name

Need help coming up with business name ideas? Try our free Business Name Generator.

Get Business Name Ideas

Montana Business Search

Once you have an idea of your preferred business name, you’ll need to perform a Montana business entity search to make sure the name hasn’t been taken by another formed business.

Bizee offers a fast, simple and convenient tool to look up your proposed business name. The Montana Secretary of State also has a tool that lets you search the State of Montana business name registry to see whether your desired name is available or if another business is using your preferred name.

Find Out Whether Your Preferred Business Name is Available in Montana With Bizee’s Free Tool

Check Your LLC Name

Trademarks and Service Marks

You must be careful that your Montana LLC name doesn’t infringe on the trademark or service mark of another business. The easiest way to make sure your proposed business name doesn’t do that is to complete a trademark search through Bizee. If no one else is using it, you can even register it as a trademark yourself.

Make Sure Your Business is Starting Off on the Right Foot When It Comes to Intellectual Property.

Let Bizee run a trademark search for you.

Bizee’s Trademark and Registration Service

Montana DBA or Assumed Name

You may do business under a different name from your legal LLC name. In some states, this is called a DBA (doing business as), trade name or fictitious name. In Montana, it's referred to as an assumed name. You may decide to use a Montana assumed name for a variety of reasons.

For example, your business might be called Western Adventures, LLC, and under that company, you have a chain called Rocky Mountain Trails. You could file for an assumed name just for that company. You'll need to submit a Registration of Assumed Business Name to do business under an assumed or fictitious name with the Montana Secretary of State. Or you can have Bizee do it on your behalf through our DBA service.

Note: A trade name is not the same as a trademark. Learn more about trademark vs. DBA.

Bizee’s Assumed Name Service

Register Your Business Name with the Montana Secretary of State (SOS)

Once you’ve completed a Montana business entity search, checked availability, followed the naming rules and decided whether you need a trade name, you can register your LLC name. There are a couple of ways to do this.

If you don’t want to form your LLC right now, you can reserve the business name. You can file a form for a Reservation of Name with the Montana Secretary of State. Your name will be reserved for 120 days once the application is processed, and may not be renewed. If you’re forming your Montana LLC right away, you won’t need to reserve a name.