California Corporations Code 201 – (a) The Secretary of State shall not file articles setting forth …
(a) The Secretary of State shall not file articles setting forth a name in which “bank,” ” trust,” “trustee,” or related words appear, unless the certificate of approval of the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation is attached thereto. This subdivision does not apply to the articles of any corporation subject to the Banking Law on which is endorsed the approval of the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation.
(b) The name of a corporation shall not be a name that the Secretary of State determines is likely to mislead the public and shall be distinguishable in the records of the Secretary of State from all of the following:
Terms Used In California Corporations Code 201
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See California Corporations Code 18
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Education Code 77
(1) The name of any corporation.
(2) The name of any foreign corporation authorized to transact intrastate business in this state.
(3) Each name that is under reservation pursuant to this title.
(4) The name of a foreign corporation that has registered its name pursuant to Section 2101.
(5) An alternate name of a foreign corporation under subdivision (b) of Section 2106.
(6) A name that will become the record name of a domestic or foreign corporation upon a corporate instrument when there is a delayed effective or file date.
(c) Subject to Section 2106, this section applies to a foreign corporation transacting business in this state or that has applied for a certificate of qualification.
(d) The use by a corporation of a name in violation of this section may be enjoined notwithstanding the filing of its articles by the Secretary of State.
(e) Any applicant may, upon payment of the fee prescribed therefor in Article 3 (commencing with Section 12180) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, obtain from the Secretary of State a certificate of reservation of any name not prohibited by subdivision (b), and upon the issuance of the certificate the name stated therein shall be reserved for a period of 60 days. The Secretary of State shall not, however, issue certificates reserving the same name for two or more consecutive 60-day periods to the same applicant or for the use or benefit of the same person; nor shall consecutive reservations be made by or for the use or benefit of the same person; of names so similar as to fall within the prohibitions of subdivision (b).
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 617, Sec. 6. (SB 1202) Effective January 1, 2023.)