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North Dakota business name search

Check name availability against the North Dakota Secretary of State database

9,425
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
2,982
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+11.7%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
37
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
North Dakota seal
Websitewww.sos.nd.gov
Phone(701) 328-2900
Address600 E Boulevard Ave, Dept 108, Bismarck, ND 58505
Hours8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Mon-Fri

North Dakota business formation by the numbers

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

#50
North Dakota ranks 50th 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
+37.1%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSAND
+31.5%
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
$135
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 5-7 business days.
North Dakota Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
318
Federal trademark applications from North Dakota businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a North Dakota address. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the North Dakota Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
+20%
Trademark filing change since 2015
North Dakota filings went from 266 in 2015 to 318 in 2023, up 20%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about North Dakota

Applicants with a North Dakota address filed 318 federal trademark applications in 2023, which is about 40 per 100,000 residents. That is among the lower rates in the country, and filings here grew +20% since 2015.

Nationally the picture moved south over the same period: Florida (up 39%), Texas (up 36%), North Carolina (up 28%) and Georgia (up 20%) gained while California (down 4%), New York (down 10%) and Illinois (down 7%) declined.

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

A trademark and a North Dakota registration are different things

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