Alaska LLC Name Reservation

Your company name is important. It’s your first impression, and it’s how people will remember you. You don’t want to be the business with a forgettable name. So, when you’ve got that perfect name in mind, that clever alliteration or meaningful acronym, you might think about reserving it before someone else does.

Naming your company is one of the first official steps when starting an LLC in Alaska. In certain situations, it may be necessary to reserve a business name while you’re preparing to bring your business idea to life. In this article, we’ll explain when reserving a business name is necessary and guide you through all the steps involved.

Are You Required to Reserve a Business Name?

If you’re looking to lock down your LLC name in Alaska, you can do so by reserving it, but you’re under no obligation to do so. In some states, you must reserve a name before forming your business, but not in Alaska. So, if you’re ready to start your LLC, you can claim your name at the same time by filing your Articles of Organization.

Should You Reserve Your LLC Name?

Maybe it took you sleepless nights of brainstorming, or maybe you thought of it while sitting at a traffic light. No matter how you came up with your memorable LLC name, you’ll want to make sure that it’s available and ready to use when you file your Alaska LLC registration.

You have the option to reserve your LLC name, but it’ll cost you a $25 fee. Overall, it’s cheaper to skip this fee and simply start your business, which will lock in your name.

However, there are cases where you may not be ready to officially start your business. Filing an application to reserve your business name gives you “dibs” and ensures that competitors aren’t able to snag it while you’re preparing for launch.

If your business name is unique, including unusual spellings or characters and/or family names, it may not be necessary to reserve a Alaska business name ahead of time. Plus, paying the extra state fee to reserve your business name could be a waste of resources if you’re planning to launch your business soon after.

How Long Does a Alaska Business Name Reservation Last?

Anyone planning to do business within the state of Alaska can reserve an entity name. Filing your name registration prevents another entity from using that name to conduct business in the state during the time of your hold. An entity name reservation in the state of Alaska lasts 120 days and you can renew it, but only twice, so be careful not to reserve your name more than a year before you’re ready to launch your business, or you might run out of renewals. To keep that reservation going strong after 120 days, you must file a “Business Name Reservation Renewal” form another $25 fee.

There’s no option to file your renewal online, so you’ll have to mail it to the address listed below. The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development typically takes 10-15 days to process mailed documents, so make sure you send it well enough ahead of your reservation expiration date.

If you’ve decided against a particular LLC name, you can withdraw your reservation at any time by submitting a notice to cancel that includes the entity number from the Certificate of Reservation.

Wrapping up and Choosing the Best Route

Your LLC name is an important part of the business. If you’re not ready to launch your business, but you’ve got a perfect name and you think someone else might claim it, consider reserving it.

However if your business is ready for takeoff, use our comprehensive guide to forming an LLC in Alaska to get started instead. This way, rather than paying an additional $25 for the name reservation application, you’ll only pay the one-time $250 Alaska LLC formation fee to claim your name and form the LLC at the same time. $25 isn’t a fortune by any means, but this will at least save you the hassle of reserving a name and registering an LLC separately.