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West Virginia business name search

Check name availability against the West Virginia Secretary of State database

17,552
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
5,494
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+16.3%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
70
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
West Virginia seal
Websitesos.wv.gov
Phone(304) 558-8000
Address1900 Kanawha Blvd East, Building 1, Suite 157-K, Charleston, WV 25305
Hours8:30 AM – 5:00 PM, Mon-Fri

West Virginia business formation by the numbers

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

#44
West Virginia ranks 44th 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
+76.3%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSAWV
+35.7%
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
$130
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 5-7 business days.
West Virginia Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
383
Federal trademark applications from West Virginia businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a West Virginia address. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the West Virginia Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
+40%
Trademark filing change since 2015
West Virginia filings went from 274 in 2015 to 383 in 2023, up 40%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about West Virginia

Applicants with a West Virginia address filed 383 federal trademark applications in 2023, up from 274 in 2015. That is a rise of 40%, one of the steepest increases in the country over those eight years.

The national pattern runs the same way. Florida (up 39%), Texas (up 36%), North Carolina (up 28%) and Georgia (up 20%) posted comparable gains, while California (down 4%), New York (down 10%) and Illinois (down 7%) all lost volume over the same period.

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

A trademark and a West Virginia registration are different things

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