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Illinois business name search

Check name availability against the Illinois Secretary of State database

193,043
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
52,237
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+11.1%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
766
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
Illinois seal
Websitewww.ilsos.gov
Phone(800) 252-8980
Address501 S 2nd St, Room 350, Springfield, IL 62756
Hours8:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Mon-Fri

Illinois business formation by the numbers

State-level data from official sources on business formation activity in Illinois.

#6
Illinois ranks 6th in U.S. business formations
Ranking is based on total business applications filed in the trailing twelve months across all 50 states and D.C.
Census BFS via FRED, TTM rank
+64.6%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSAIL
+8.3%
Quarter-over-quarter change
Current quarter applications compared to the prior quarter. A useful read on whether momentum is building or fading.
FRED, latest 3 months vs prior 3
$500
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 5-10 business days.
Illinois Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
11,483
Federal trademark applications from Illinois businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a Illinois address, the 7th highest total of any state. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the Illinois Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
-7%
Trademark filing change since 2015
Illinois filings went from 12,291 in 2015 to 11,483 in 2023, down 7%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about Illinois

Applicants with an Illinois address filed 11,483 federal trademark applications in 2023, compared with 12,291 in 2015, a change of -7%.

Adjusted for population that is about 91 filings per 100,000 residents, the 15th highest rate in the country.

The most common category for Illinois filings since 2019 is Class 041, covering education, training and entertainment services.

A trademark and an Illinois registration are different things

Registering an entity with the Illinois Secretary of State establishes that name for that entity within Illinois. A federal trademark is granted by the USPTO, applies nationally, and covers only the goods or services it is registered under.

The two records are separate, which is why a name can clear an Illinois entity search and still overlap an existing federal mark, and why a federal mark can exist for a name no Illinois entity has registered.

Trademark figures on this page come from the USPTO Trademark Case Files dataset, which covers applications through March 2024. Counts are applications filed by applicants with an Illinois mailing address, and reflect filings rather than registrations granted.