West Virginia Code 31D-4-404 – Registered name
(a) A foreign corporation may register its corporate name, or its corporate name with any addition required by section one thousand five hundred six, article fifteen of this chapter, if the name is distinguishable upon the records of the Secretary of State from the corporate names that are not available under subsection (b), section four hundred one of this article.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 31D-4-404
- 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.
- domestic corporation: means a corporation for profit, which is not a foreign corporation, incorporated under or subject to the provisions of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 31D-1-150
- Foreign corporation: means a corporation for profit incorporated under a law other than the laws of this state. See West Virginia Code 31D-1-150
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the board of directors has delegated responsibility under subsection (c), section eight hundred forty, article eight of this chapter for custody of the minutes of the meetings of the board of directors and the meetings of the shareholders and for authenticating records of the corporation. See West Virginia Code 31D-1-150
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) A foreign corporation registers its corporate name, or its corporate name with any addition required by section one thousand five hundred six, article fifteen of this chapter, by delivering to the Secretary of State for filing an application:
(1) Setting forth its corporate name, or its corporate name with any addition required by section one thousand five hundred six, article fifteen of this chapter, the state or country and date of its incorporation and a brief description of the nature of the business in which it is engaged; and
(2) Accompanied by a certificate of existence, or a document of similar import, from the state or country of incorporation.
(c) The name is registered for the applicant's exclusive use upon the effective date of the application.
(d) A foreign corporation whose registration is effective may renew it for successive years by delivering to the Secretary of State for filing a renewal application, which complies with the requirements of subsection (b) of this section, between October 1, and December 31, of the preceding year. The renewal application when filed renews the registration for the following calendar year.
(e) A foreign corporation whose registration is effective may qualify as a foreign corporation under the registered name or consent in writing to the use of that name by a corporation incorporated under this chapter or by another foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this state. The registration terminates when the domestic corporation is incorporated or the foreign corporation qualifies or consents to the qualification of another foreign corporation under the registered name.