Protecting Your Business

Once your corporation or LLC is up and running, there are maintenance filing tasks you should consider that fall under "protecting your business."

You can order any of these products in "Other Services." Visit "Other Services" by clicking on the tab at the top of every page.

Filing DBAs
DBA stands for "doing business as" and is an official registration of your business name.

If you want to look more professional by collecting checks and payments under your business name, MyCorporation can file a DBA application for you.

We file your DBA with the required government agencies, check its status and even publish it where required. You'll receive the approval and publication certificate for your records.

A DBA makes it easy to:

  • Open a bank account and collect checks and payments under your business name
  • Start publishing and advertising on business cards, signs and your website
  • Look more professional and discourage others from using your name

Most states require you to file a DBA if you are doing business under a name different than your own.

"Conducting business" can include marketing, advertising, letterhead, business cards, etc., in addition to actual business transactions. Also, banks generally require a DBA registration in order to open a business bank account.

DBAs are not just for sole proprietors. If you are a corporation or LLC and want to do business under a name different than your corporate name, you are also required to file for a DBA.

Get more facts or order today.

Trademarks
Your business is unique, and you want your business to identify itself as separate from other businesses or services.

In order to protect your company's name or logo (its uniqueness), you should consider registering a Trademark Application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

MyCorporation offers three separate Trademark services:

Comprehensive Trademark Search: First—is your business name already in use by another corporation or entity?

Trademark searches provide you with information about the availability of your mark. It answers such questions as: Is anyone else using the mark? What is the status of those marks already in use?

When you are ready to register your trademark with the USPTO, performing a Comprehensive Trademark Search is a great way to get started. Get more facts or order today.

Trademark Application: In order to protect your company's name or logo (its uniqueness), you should probably register a Trademark Application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Federally registering your trademark may be one of your most important business decisions. Trademarks identify your product or service and set your company apart from the others. Get more facts or order today.

Trademark Watch: In order to protect your company's name or logo (its uniqueness), you must seek to register and file a Trademark Application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Once that is done, you may want to keep a watchful eye on the Industry for misuse, or illegal use, of your trademark. Get more facts or order today.

Copyrights
MyCorporation offers copyright application services.

Copyright protects "original works of authorship." Copyrightable works include the following categories:

  • literary works
  • musical works, including any accompanying words
  • dramatic works, including any accompanying music
  • pantomimes and choreographic works
  • pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
  • motion pictures and other audiovisual works
  • sound recordings
  • architectural works

Copyright laws grant the creator of the "work" the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly.

At its most general, copyright is literally "the right to copy" an original creation.

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Articles of Dissolution
A Corporation or LLC must file Articles of Dissolution when it wishes to terminate its existence.

MyCorporation will prepare your Articles of Dissolution for your review and submission to the appropriate state agency in any of the 50 states.

Articles of Dissolution are sometimes referred to as "Certificate of Dissolution" or "Certificate of Cancellation."

Whenever a corporation or LLC is an active entity at the Secretary of State, it is in existence and has specific obligations to that state (such as filing Annual Reports, paying state fees, and paying taxes).

Even if the company is not actually doing any business at all, as long as the company is filed with the state, it is considered to be in existence.

For this reason, it is important to officially and formally dissolve your entity with the Secretary of State in order to avoid any monetary obligations—simply by virtue of its very existence!

Get more facts or order today.