Court Opinions

State Laws

US Code

US Constitution

Texas Business Organizations Code - Section 251.452. Use Of Name

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Business Organizations Code > Texas Business Organizations Code - Section 251.452. Use Of Name

§ 251.452. USE OF NAME "COOPERATIVE".  (a) Only a 
cooperative association governed by this chapter, a group organized 
on a cooperative basis under another law of this state, or a foreign 
entity operating on a cooperative basis and authorized to do 
business in this state may use the term "cooperative" or any 
abbreviation or derivation of the term "cooperative" as part of its 
business name or represent itself, in advertising or otherwise, as 
conducting business on a cooperative basis.
	(b)  A person commits an offense if the person violates 
Subsection (a).  An offense under this subsection is a misdemeanor 
punishable by:
		(1)  a fine of not less than $25 or more than $200 for 
the first month in which the violation occurs;
		(2)  a fine of not more than $200 for each month during 
which a violation occurs after the first month;
		(3)  confinement in the county jail for not less than 30 
days or more than one year;  or
		(4)  a combination of those punishments.                                      
	(c)  The attorney general may sue to enjoin a violation of 
this section.     
	(d)  If a court renders a judgment that a person who used the 
term "cooperative" before September 1, 1975, is not organized on a 
cooperative basis but is authorized to continue to use the term, the 
business shall place immediately after its name the words "does not 
comply with the cooperative association law of Texas" in the same 
kind of type and in letters not less than two-thirds the size of the 
letters used in the word "cooperative."
	(e)  Notwithstanding this section, The University 
Cooperative Society, a domestic nonprofit corporation related to 
The University of Texas, may continue to use the word "cooperative" 
in its name.

Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 182, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006.                     

Last modified: August 11, 2007