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Maryland business name search

Check name availability against the Maryland Secretary of State database

106,498
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
31,554
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+11.6%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
423
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
Maryland seal
Websitedat.maryland.gov
Phone(410) 767-1184
Address700 E Pratt St, Suite 2700, Baltimore, MD 21202
Hours8:30 AM – 4:30 PM, Mon-Fri

Maryland business formation by the numbers

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

#18
Maryland ranks 18th 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
+41.1%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSAMD
+26.4%
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
$100
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 4-6 weeks (paper), 6-8 weeks (online non-expedited), 3-4 weeks current.
Maryland Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
6,018
Federal trademark applications from Maryland businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a Maryland address, the 18th highest total of any state. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the Maryland Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
+15%
Trademark filing change since 2015
Maryland filings went from 5,246 in 2015 to 6,018 in 2023, up 15%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about Maryland

Applicants with a Maryland address filed 6,018 federal trademark applications in 2023, compared with 5,246 in 2015, a change of +15%.

Adjusted for population that is about 97 filings per 100,000 residents, the 13th highest rate in the country.

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

A trademark and a Maryland registration are different things

Registering an entity with the Maryland Secretary of State establishes that name for that entity within Maryland. 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 a Maryland entity search and still overlap an existing federal mark, and why a federal mark can exist for a name no Maryland 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 a Maryland mailing address, and reflect filings rather than registrations granted.