INCORPORATION:
At US Registered Agents, we can prepare and file your Articles of Incorporation - either a standard charter or as custom as you please - in any state or province within a few days. Of course, if you are prepared to take full advantage of those states which allow (and charge for) expediting and which accept fax transmission of your documents, we can do it in a matter of hours! Our experience will translate into savings in both time and money.

Unlike many other countries, in the United States, corporations are created not under national law but under the law of an individual state. Incorporating in Canada is similar; corporations are usually created under the law of a given province. However, Canada differs in allowing Federal (or Dominion) corporations as well.

QUALIFICATION OR REGISTRATION AS A FOREIGN CORPORATION OR AS AN EXTRAPROVINCIAL CORPORATION:
When a corporation seeks to "do business" in a state other than the one in which it was created, it is treated as a foreign corporation and must "qualify" to do business, generally by filing an Application for Authority. At IBCF, in addition to creating your corporation, we can prepare and file your qualification documents as well and serve as your registered agent in every state from Alabama to Wyoming. And in every Canadian province from Alberta to the Yukon!

Among the most popular jurisdictions for incorporation in the United States are New York, California, Florida and New Jersey, generally because they represent major population centers. Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming all have major corporate populations due in large part to the fact that they do not seek to tax income earned outside of their borders. As a matter of fact, more than 50% of the companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange are incorporated in Delaware.

We can also assist you in obtaining IRS forms such as an Application for an Employer Identification Number and the Election to be treated as an S Corporation (formerly known as Subchapter S Corporations.)

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANIES:
As with corporations, we can file your LLC documents anywhere! Since the enactment of the first Limited Liability Company Act in Wyoming, every state now has adopted LLC legislation. Because each LLC situation is so unique, you'll usually want to prepare your Members Agreement yourself. For those states which allow the filing of a recitation of existence such as the Articles of Organization, we can prepare it for you as well.

In addition to Limited Liability Companies, we can also form Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships.

CORPORATE NAMES:
The rules vary on a state by state basis but, in general, each state requires that the word "corporation", "incorporated", "limited" or the abbreviations (inc., corp., ltd.) for these words must be included in the company name. Please make sure you included one of these in your proposed name. For example, Choice 1 might be Ajax Widgets, Inc. or Third Investment Corporation.

In addition, to the words which must be included, there are other words which may never be included in a corporate name unless permission is granted by a specific government authority such as the State Banking Department. These phrases usually include words such as board of trade, chamber of commerce, police, bank, doctor, lawyer, trust, title, savings, mortgage and insurance. Use of one of these words will result in your incorporation documents being rejected.

TRADEMARK IMPLICATIONS:
Although you may have used a certain phrase in your corporate name, it may not be enough to stop other companies from using that name in commerce and certainly not if they are located in a state other than the one in which you incorporated or qualified. A Trademark is generally considered to be words or symbols that distinguish your products or services from those of all others. To protect your Trademark, you must register it; in the US, with the Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, your first step in trademark protection and registration is a search to discover any potential conflicts.