LLC Name Reservation Requirements in Pennsylvania

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Who may apply and for what name

Under 15 Pa.C.S. § 208(a), “any person” may reserve a name by a signed application. Chapter 2 uses the defined “covered association” in § 201, and § 204(c) expressly covers domestic and registered foreign LLC names. That provision permits “company,” “limited,” “limited liability company,” an abbreviation, or a qualifying term of like import. Section 208 does not identify a separate registered-series application.

Availability and filing

Section 202(b)(1) compares a covered association's proposed proper name against another covered association's proper name, with a filed change-or-exit statement and consent route in subsection (b)(1)(i). Under § 202(b)(2), names already reserved or registered under the named name statutes are also protected. Section 208(a) directs the applicant to deliver a signed application specifying the name to the Department of State; the Department reserves it only if available. A certified final court judgment establishing the right to use a name supplies a distinct exception to § 202(b)'s distinguishability test under § 202(f).

Fee, term, and transfer

Under § 153(a)(13)(i), the reservation-of-association-name fee is $70. Section 208(a) gives the applicant exclusive use for 120 days. Under § 208(b), the holder may transfer the reservation by delivering a notice in record form signed by the original reserver and stating the other person's name and address.

What trips people up

The annual renewal window in § 209(b) governs a registration of a nonregistered foreign association's name, not the 120-day reservation under § 208. Section 208 specifies no renewal or cancellation route; it does specify a filed transfer notice. Under § 202(d), unfair-competition, common-law, equity, and trade-name rules remain available, so the state entity-name hold cannot answer wider rights questions.

Common questions

Can another holder consent to an otherwise conflicting name?

Section 202(b)(1)(i) permits a route when the other covered association states that it is changing its name, leaving business, winding up, or withdrawing, and files both that statement and consent. Section 202(f) separately recognizes a certified final judgment establishing the right to use the name.

Does the reservation itself form or register an LLC?

No. Section 208 describes an application to hold a specified name. Section 204(c) addresses the proper name of a domestic or registered foreign LLC; the reservation provision does not purport to file organizational or registration documents.

Statutes and sources

The current official Pennsylvania Title 15 Chapter 2 supplies §§ 201, 202, 204, and 208. The official § 153 fee schedule supplies the reservation fee. Accessed September 22, 2026; the operative passages are quoted above.