We need to move on this ASAP. Some unscrupulous bastard may beat us to the punch.
How to Scam
Ok. The thing to keep in mind is, unless qualifications to do business were filed in all fifty states, anyone else would still be able to form entities in other states with the same names - what I've proposed just grabs the Delaware entities, which are usually the most popular with corporate types (because Del. corporate law is the most efficient to work with) - but doesn't lock the names up in any other state
unless there is some sort of filiing, like a foreign entity filing, that puts the names onto the records of the relevant Secretary of State. That can be done, and maintained quite easily via a computer, but it does entail more cost and expense, for the initial filing as well as for annual franchise taxes (almost all states impose a minimum tax of around $100 per year).
To get a practical effect of tying up the names, one would not really have to hit all of the other states, getting the big commercial states - CA, NY, IL, and the like - would in practice achieve the desired end, but it would increase upfront and annual costs.
Now, as to basic formation costs, the filing fees schedule for Delaware is
here.
Provided one doesn't want super-expedited service, it would cost about $89 to incorporate a corporation ($139 if one selected the 24-hour expedited filing option, which adds $50 to the filing fee). Forming an LLC costs about $90 for standard filing, $140 if one chooses the 24-hour expedited filing option.
The basic forms that have to be completed, executed, and returned for filing can also be got from the Del. SoS' website,
here, and filing them out is really not that big of a chore, particularly if you're really just going for a basic inert shell corp/shell LLC formation.
