§ 7122 – Prohibited Names; Reservation Of Names
(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 Institutions is attached thereto.
(b) The Secretary of State shall not file articles pursuant to this part setting forth a name which may create the impression that the purpose of the corporation is public, charitable or religious or that it is a charitable foundation.
(c) The Secretary of State shall not file articles which set forth a name which is likely to mislead the public or which is the same as, or resembles so closely as to tend to deceive, the name of a domestic corporation, the name of a foreign corporation which is authorized to transact intrastate business or has registered its name pursuant to Section 2101, a name which a foreign corporation has assumed under subdivision (b) of Section 2106, a name which will become the record name of a domestic or foreign corporation upon the effective date of a filed corporate instrument where there is a delayed effective date pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 110, or subdivision (c) of Section 5008, or a name which is under reservation pursuant to this section, Section 201, Section 5122, or Section 9122 except that a corporation may adopt a name that is substantially the same as an existing domestic or foreign corporation which is authorized to transact intrastate business or has registered its name pursuant to Section 2101, upon proof of consent by such corporation and a finding by the Secretary of State that under the circumstances the public is not likely to be misled.
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.
(d)Any applicant may, upon payment of the fee prescribed therefor in the Government Code, obtain from the Secretary of State a certificate of reservation of any name not prohibited by subdivision (c), 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 (c).