Is my business name taken in Hawaii? Check the official search
Before you register a name, buy a domain or print a sign, check whether someone in Hawaii already uses it. The official register is run by the Hawaii Business Express. This guide shows where to search, what that search can and cannot tell you, and how to check the matching domain names in one batch.
The official Hawaii search
Hawaii Business Express: business entity search
Use it to look for the exact name you want and for close variants (with and without "The", "&" versus "and", "Co" versus "Company", singular and plural). Write down every hit, its entity type and its status (active, inactive, dissolved).
What the state search does tell you
- Whether a corporation, LLC or other entity filed with the Hawaii state office already carries that name or one very close to it.
- Its status and filing date, which tells you whether the name is in live use.
What it does not tell you
- "Not found" is not the same as "approved". Many states refuse a name that is not distinguishable from an existing one on the record, which is a wider test than an exact-text match. Only the state's filing office decides that when you file, and the rules differ by state. Ask the office or read its name rules before you rely on a search.
- Trade names and DBAs may live somewhere else. In some places they are filed with a county or city clerk instead of the state, so a state search will miss them. Check how Hawaii handles assumed names and also search the county where you will operate.
- A federal trademark is a separate system. A name can be free on the state register and still infringe a trademark owned by someone else. Search the USPTO database too: USPTO trademark search. Common-law use by an unregistered business can also matter, and a search of the web and of app stores for the name helps.
- Domains and social handles are not on any state register. That is the next step.
Check the matching domains in bulk
List the name variants from your state search (say, three spellings), pick the extensions you would use, and let the Bulk Domain Availability Checker ask the registries directly through RDAP. Example input (illustrative; the names are made up):
{
"domains": ["acmeplumbing", "acme-plumbing", "acmeplumbinghi"],
"tlds": ["com", "co", "net", "org", "io"]
}That is 3 names x 5 extensions = 15 checks. Each row comes back with status (available or registered), plus registrar, creation and expiry dates for registered names. The price is $0.001 per domain answered, so this input is $0.015; 100 domains is $0.10. Rows the Actor cannot answer come back as unknown and are free. The .co extension has no RDAP server and gets a labelled DNS guess (likely_taken or likely_available), also free.
"Available" means the registry holds no record. It does not mean the price is normal: premium names can show as available at a high price, and the name could be registered a minute later.
A short order of work
- Search the Hawaii register for the name and its variants.
- Search the USPTO database for the same strings in your line of business.
- Check the domains in one batch.
- Search the web and your county's records for unregistered users of the name.
- Only then file, or buy the domain.
All 50 states and DC are on the business name check by state page. This is general information, not legal advice; for a brand you will build a business on, a trademark attorney's clearance search is worth the fee.
Try it: Bulk Domain Availability Checker on Apify. $0.001 per domain answered, unknown rows free. The Apify free plan includes monthly credit, so a test run costs nothing out of pocket.