Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Business Registration Division
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The granting of charters of incorporation is one of the oldest functions of the government. The oldest corporation on record in Hawaii is Kaneohe Church, which was registered in 1849. Kohala Sugar Company is the oldest profit corporation on record. Its charter was granted on February 3, 1863 by Lot Kamehameha, Minister of the Interior.
The Minister of the Interior of the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands also had the duty of registering partnerships, trade names, trademarks, prints and labels. Partnerships were first registered in 1880. Benson, Smith & Co. registered the first trademark on October 25, 1888 for Buhac insect powder. Upon annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States as a territory, the powers and duties of the Minister of the Interior were vested in the Treasurer of the Territory of Hawaii.
Today, these functions are carried out under the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs by the Business Registration Division.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
The Business Registration Division directs a wide variety of activities regulating: corporations; partnerships; sale of securities; registration of trademarks, trade names, service marks, prints, and labels; and charitable organizations. The division administers its policies, renders administrative interpretations, studies applicable laws for defects and weaknesses, and prepares legislation to remedy such defects. In addition to its administrative functions, the Division directs investigations of reported violations of regulations or statutes.
This division is primarily a registration office, and only documents and applications that are in compliance with the applicable statutory requirements are accepted for record. A good deal of time is spent by employees examining all documents and applications files for statutory compliance. Another responsibility of this division is to determine that no corporate name, partnership name, or trade name is the same or confusingly similar with other registered names.
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Related entity
Identifier of the related entity
Category of the relationship
Dates of the relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Maintained by
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created in 1991-06 D. Yap
Revised in 1994-02 A. Hoof
Additional material in 1994-04, R. Medeiros
Revised and enlarged in 1994-1998, G. Vergara-Bautista
Additions in 1999-09, P. Lai,
Revised and enlarged in 2002-07, G. Vergara-Bautista
Revised in 2009-05
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Maintenance notes
1991-06, D. Yap, Created
1994-02, A. Hoof: Revised
1994-04, R. Medeiros: Additional material
1994-1998, G. Vergara-Bautista: Revised and enlarged
1999-09, P. Lai: Additions
2002-07, G. Vergara-Bautista: Revised and enlarged
2009-05: Revised
2020-09-24, Joel Horowitz: Entered into AtoM