Form your business on solid ground.
Choose the entity that fits your business and file it correctly, with liability protection in place and the tax benefits you qualify for.
Starting at $1,995 plus state filing fees
Modern Mark forms LLCs, corporations and non-profits, drafts operating agreements, and prepares 501(c)(3) applications. Formations outside Texas and New York are handled with our network of corporate counsel in nearly every state.
An LLC suits most small businesses, while companies raising equity from investors typically form a corporation, and tax-exempt work runs through a non-profit corporation.
Should I form an LLC or a corporation?
An LLC offers flexible management and pass-through taxation by default. A corporation is the standard structure for raising equity from investors. S-corporation status is a tax election that eligible LLCs and corporations can make.
Who owns the business and how you’ll pay yourself decide most of it, along with any plan to bring in investors.
How do I form an LLC in Texas?
File a Certificate of Formation with the Texas Secretary of State, name a registered agent, adopt a company agreement, and get an EIN from the IRS.
Texas doesn’t require a company agreement, but without one the default rules of the Business Organizations Code decide how your company runs, including matters between co-owners.
How do I form an LLC in New York?
File Articles of Organization with the New York Department of State, then meet the publication requirement. Within 120 days, publish a notice in two newspapers for six consecutive weeks and file a Certificate of Publication.
New York also requires LLCs to adopt a written operating agreement. Missing the publication deadline can suspend the LLC’s authority to do business.
How do I start a non-profit and get 501(c)(3) status?
Form a non-profit corporation under state law, adopt bylaws, then apply to the IRS for recognition of tax-exempt status on Form 1023, or on Form 1023-EZ if the organization qualifies.
The organizing documents need specific purpose and dissolution language for the IRS application to succeed.
Does forming an LLC protect my business name?
No. Registering an entity name with the state doesn’t give you trademark rights, and the state accepting the name doesn’t mean it’s free to use as a brand.
Clear the name as a trademark before you form the entity. See trademark registration.
How it works.
Tell us your needs
Fill out our matter evaluation form. The more detail you provide, the better we can help.
Free matter evaluation
We review your information and determine how we can best help. Free of charge, no commitment.
Schedule your Strategy Session
If we can help, you’ll get a link to a 45-minute strategy session with clear next steps and a quote.
More questions.
Q01Do you form businesses outside Texas and New York?
Yes. Modern Mark works with corporate counsel in nearly every state, so formations elsewhere are handled through that network. Trademark and copyright work is nationwide.
Q02Can you register the trademark at the same time?
Yes, and we clear the name as a trademark before filing the entity.
Q03Do I need an operating agreement for a single-member LLC?
New York requires one. Texas does not, though one still helps there because it documents that the LLC is separate from you, which supports liability protection.
Related services.
Trademark Registration
A clearance search and strategy before a USPTO filing that holds up.
Trademark Enforcement
Cease-and-desist letters, takedowns, UDRP, cancellations and monitoring.
Copyright
Copyright registration, DMCA takedowns when work is copied, and licensing.
Business Contracts
Custom contracts designed to hold up.
Marketing Compliance
FTC and FDA review of ads, product claims and influencer deals.
Fractional General Counsel
A lawyer on speed-dial, without a full-time hire.
Trademark Monitoring
A year-round watch for copycat filings, with monthly attorney reviews.
Trademark Licensing & Monetization
Licensing, assignments, franchising and co-branding deals that turn a brand into income.
Business Legacy & Estate Planning
Plan who owns and runs the business, and the brand, after you.
IP Litigation
Trademark, copyright and trade secret disputes, taken to court when a letter isn’t enough.
Trademark Oppositions
Received a Notice of Opposition? Your answer deadline and your options for defending or settling it.
Filed It Yourself?
Attorney help when a self-filed application gets an office action, refusal, abandonment, or opposition.
Foreign Applicants
USPTO rules require trademark applicants based outside the US to be represented by a US-licensed attorney.
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