NORTH CAROLINA SECRETARY OF STATE

The North Carolina Secretary of State is responsible for the administration and governance of business structures as well as the contracts and procedures that relate to them. Along the same lines, the Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing the trademark registration process as it relates to business entities conducting business within the state. In addition, the office is responsible for maintaining records of business actions and movements as well as keeping certain specific business information on the official Secretary of State website. One of the key features offered by the Secretary of State’s website is the ability to perform a business entity name search in order to check the availability of a specific business name. If a name is available, it can be reserved and used immediately or at a later time. If someone chooses to use it immediately in the business formation process, they would have to decide what type of business structure to choose. The most common are the Corporation and the Limited Liability Company. If a Corporation is chosen, Articles of Incorporation must be filed, and in the case of an LLC,  Articles of Organization would be filed. Records of current businesses can also be searched on the website. There are usually multiple search criteria options such as business name, business address, owner name, and registered agent name. Along with business formation services, other actions such as dissolving a company, adding/removing officers (for a corporation) or members (for an LLC), obtaining a certificate of good standing and annual report filings can be performed. Additionally, the Secretary of State acts as a notary public where official legal documents can be notarized.