(a) A professional corporation may adopt any name permitted by a law expressly applicable to the profession in which such corporation is engaged or by a rule or regulation of the governmental agency regulating such profession. The provisions of subdivision (b) of Section 201 shall not apply to the name of a professional corporation if such name shall contain and be restricted to the name or the last name of one or more of the present, prospective, or former shareholders or of persons who were associated with a predecessor person, partnership or other organization or whose name or names appeared in the name of such predecessor organization, and the Secretary of State shall have no authority by reason of subdivision (b) of Section 201 to refuse to file articles of incorporation which set forth such a name; provided, however, that such name shall not be substantially the same as the name of a domestic corporation, the name of a foreign corporation qualified to render professional services in this state which is authorized to transact business in this state, or a name which is under reservation for another corporation. The Secretary of State may require proof by affidavit or otherwise establishing that the name of the professional corporation complies with the requirements of this section and of the law governing the profession in which such professional corporation is engaged. The statements of fact in such affidavits may be accepted by the Secretary of State as sufficient proof of the facts.
(b) A foreign professional corporation qualified to render professional services in this state may transact intrastate business in this state by any name permitted by a law expressly applicable to the profession in which the corporation is engaged, or by a rule or regulation of the governmental agency regulating the rendering of professional services in this state by the corporation. The provisions of subdivision (b) of Section 201 shall not apply to the name of a foreign professional corporation if the name contains and is restricted to the name or the last name of one or more of the present, prospective, or former shareholders or of persons who were associated with a predecessor person, partnership, or other organization, or whose name or names appeared in the name of the predecessor organization, and the Secretary of State shall have no authority by reason of subdivision (b) of Section 201 to refuse to issue a certificate of qualification to a foreign professional corporation that sets forth that name in its statement and designation; provided, however, that such a name shall not be substantially the same as the name of a domestic corporation, the name of a foreign corporation qualified to render professional services in the state, or a name that is under reservation for another corporation. The Secretary of State may require proof by affidavit or otherwise establishing that the name of the foreign professional corporation qualified to render professional services in this state complies with the requirements of this section and of the law governing the profession in which the foreign professional corporation qualified to render professional services in this state proposes to engage in this state. The statements of fact in such affidavits may be accepted by the Secretary of State as sufficient proof of the facts.
(Amended by Stats. 1993, Ch. 910, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1994.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018