Want Name Of Old Bankrupt Company
My family sold a company which then went bankrupt a few years later in 1991. In NY, is it possible to register my new company using the name of my old family business? They were incorporated. It's been almost 14 years since they were out of business. I did a trademark search but couldn't find the name. Is there anyway I can find who owns the name if that's the case?
Ell...go to (www.4trademark.com) . This is Richard Morris, an attorney that handles trademarks ...You can also call 800-487-2336....if your family business had a logo, you may want to include the logo & name in the search...this strengthens your trademark...regards, CWal
It might be easier to go online and find your state Sec. of State Corporation Division office.
Many of those SOS sites today have a link to the active and living corps and LLCs registered with them...so a quick search will tell you if that co. name is in use...and if so, who their registered officers are and where they are.
I can do that today in my state of WA and find currrently registered WA State corps in just a few minutes...and if the name isn't there, I can incorporate using that name again in minutes using the SOS/Corp Division new corp registration form.
But now a word of caution: I'd first doublecheck to make absolutely certain that the old company IS dead and gone, and that they did receive a complete and total discharge of ALL debts in the BK that they went through back in '91.
Because if you don't do this, it could be possible for some old debt and/or LIEN against them to be still alive and collectable abainst your NEW co. of the same name...only a slim, outside chance, but you need to know before starting up that co. name again.
Some skeptic might ask how could some debt of more than 20 years old still exist....so think about this:
Suppose an unborn child received terrible injuries while still in Mom's womb..say brain injury. And that child is still alive today, and his care costs more than $1M per year.
Now his parents attribute those injudries to that company, and because that injured person has never been competent, his guardians might file suit against your company tomorrow alleging that the statute of limitaions has NEVER run.
And the're saying your co. now owes them $100M for the person's injuries caused by your co.
So, again, don't reincorporate it until you make sure ALL its debts were discharged.
I did check the Division of corporations and the current status of the company is INACTIVE. Also, it was a corporation and not an LLC.
Now the next step would be to find out if there is any debt/lien against them. hmm.. :-?