The right to use the business name is part of the sale, nearly always. You may not be buying the Corporation, but you are buying the DBA, or Doing Business As name. This is generally a very important part of the goodwill if you are purchasing an existing business. Customers turn to this company for their products & services, and the company makes money. That is one of the reasons you may want to buy the business. You may want to think long and hard before changing that name, and risking the loss of customers and revenue. If you do want a new name, you can request a report from a search company that will check records in the US Patent and Trademark Office, state registers and various other business sources. There usually is a fee for this service. Some companies are: CSC, The US Corporation Company, 1090 Vermont Ave NW, Washington DC 20005, 800 241-6518. Thomson and Thomson, 500 Victory Road, North Quincy MA 02171-3145, 800-692-8833.