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I want to register a company i.e. MyCompany Limited but unfortunately this name is unavailable I am playing with different names and found MyCompany Inc is available. What would be the difference if I go with Inc option?

Will it make any difference if I use Inc instead of Incorporation?

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when you say available, do you mean the domain name is available? – Igorek Nov 9 '10 at 18:48
No, company name – jason Nov 9 '10 at 18:51
It's probably a bad idea to christen your company with a name so close to another company's name, whether they're a competitor or not. – mfg Nov 9 '10 at 21:58

5 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

First of all, I'm not an accountant or an attorney, but if there is one thing you should NOT do, is make your choice of INC vs. LTD vs. LLC vs. whatever else is based on name availability!

It is like choosing between a Honda Civic, Harley motorcycle, and a Semi-truck based on the color of their steering wheels :)

Have a read here about incorporating: http://www.standardlegal.com/law-library/LLC-vs-Inc.html

But there are literally hundreds of sites on the net that compare various corporation and partnership types to one another.

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up vote 1 down vote

In what sense? an Inc or Incorporated is a legal filing as is a LLC. A LLC offers more liability protection to the owners which are shareholders. Both have pros and cons...perhaps speaking to a CPA or accountant can guide you based on your personal needs. Best of luck

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up vote 1 down vote

The Secretary of State in your jurisdiction is very likely going to reject your application if there is an existing company with the same name. (Inc vs Corp vs LLC vs DBA vs Ltd will not matter -- at least in NH the core part of the entity name can not be the same, I expect other places will have similar restrictions.)

The reason being that the names are too similar and the public is likely to be confused about whether you are the same company.

You don't want this anyway -- find something more unique so that you can stand out.

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up vote 0 down vote

Can't you use MyCompany Software Ltd or MyCompany Data Services Ltd or whatever is relevant to you? The domain, logo, product name etc do not have to exactly match the registered company name, at least in the UK AFAIK.

Also +1'd Igorek, don't choose how you form your company based on name availability (domain yes though).

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up vote 0 down vote

Here are a few things to consider...

DBA

You should consider what the original company's DBA (Doing Business As) is. More then likely, MyCompany Inc. has registered a DBA as MyCompany. You can have multiple companies using the same DBA, but they have to agree with each other.

Brand recognition

Brand visibility is hard enough without having to deal with confusion as to what brand is what. How will your customers find you?

Devaluation to brand

Imagine if you found a Microsoft SP - you can probably tell fairly quickly who was the rip off, even if Microsoft SP doesn't sell related products.

Your brand is all you have to represent your company/product to your consumers. Almost any other name is better then a ripoff of someone else.

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