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Minnesota business name search

Check name availability against the Minnesota Secretary of State database

74,618
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
21,230
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+9.1%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
296
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
Minnesota seal
Websitewww.sos.mn.gov
Phone(651) 296-2803
Address332 Minnesota St, Suite N201, Saint Paul, MN 55101
Hours8:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Mon-Fri

Minnesota business formation by the numbers

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

#26
Minnesota ranks 26th 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
+62.1%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSAMN
+21.7%
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
$155
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 5-7 business days.
Minnesota Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
4,823
Federal trademark applications from Minnesota businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a Minnesota address, the 22nd highest total of any state. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the Minnesota Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
-15%
Trademark filing change since 2015
Minnesota filings went from 5,663 in 2015 to 4,823 in 2023, down 15%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about Minnesota

Applicants with a Minnesota address filed 4,823 federal trademark applications in 2023. That is down from 5,663 in 2015, a fall of 15%, and one of the larger declines of any state over those eight years.

It is not alone. California (down 4%), New York (down 10%) and Illinois (down 7%) also declined over the same eight years, while Florida (up 39%), Texas (up 36%), North Carolina (up 28%) and Georgia (up 20%) each gained. The filing base has been shifting south.

The most common category for Minnesota filings since 2019 is Class 035, covering advertising, business management and office services.

A trademark and a Minnesota registration are different things

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