How can I tell if a company is incorporated in California (LA County)?

Question

I ordered a product from a company that states "Inc." in its name, however, I'm not sure how to find out if it really is incorporated.

Answer 1

"Doing business under a fictitious business name [in California] requires that you do the following: File a Fictitious Business Name within forty-five days of starting your business....A Fictitious Business Name with "corp." or "Inc" suffix is not allowed unless you want to file a dba for a corporation with the same name."

So to find out if this business is truly incorporated in Los Angeles, use can use either of these search enginges to verify it:
http://www.businessnameusa.com/dba/los-angeles/los_angeles.htm
http://www.lavote.net/CLERK/FBN_Search.cfm

Answer 2

You can go to the California State website and check under their division of corporations - most states provide access to a searchable database of companies incorporated in that state, or at least information on how to request it..