(a) Business entity names must use the English alphabet or Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) or symbols as listed in Section 21002(b) or a combination thereof. For purposes of determining whether a proposed name is distinguishable from an existing name, letters of the English alphabet shall not be interpreted as Roman numerals and will not be considered to have numeric value.(b) For the purposes of determining whether a proposed name is distinguishable from an existing name: (1) No distinction between upper and lower case letters, typeface or font will be recognized.(2) Accent marks above letters and other English language diacritics will not be recognized.(3) Subscript or superscript characters will be treated as standard characters and will not appear above or below other characters in a business entity name.(c) The conditions and examples used in these regulations are not exclusive, nor will these regulations be used to limit the Secretary of State's discretion in determining whether a proposed name is likely to mislead the public, is the same as, or distinguishable in the record from the name of an existing business entity.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 21000
1. New chapter 8.5 (sections 21000-21009) and section filed 5-14-2009; operative 5-14-2009 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2009, No. 20).
2. Amendment of subsections (a) and (c) and amendment of NOTE filed 11-19-2013; operative 1-1-2014 (Register 2013, No. 47).
3. Amendment filed 1-21-2021; operative 1-21-2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2021, No. 4). Note: Authority cited: Sections 8, 110, 201, 2106, 2601, 5008, 5122, 7122, 9122, 12214, 12302, 13409, 15901.08, 15909.05, 17701.08 and 17708.02, Corporations Code. Reference: Sections 8, 167, 171, 201, 2101, 2106, 2601, 5008, 5122, 7122, 9122, 12214, 12302, 13409, 15901.02, 15901.08, 15901.09, 15909.05, 17701.02, 17701.08, 17701.09, 17708.02 and 17708.05, Corporations Code.
1. New chapter 8.5 (sections 21000-21009) and section filed 5-14-2009; operative 5-14-2009 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2009, No. 20).
2. Amendment of subsections (a) and (c) and amendment of Note filed 11-19-2013; operative 1-1-2014 (Register 2013, No. 47).
3. Amendment filed 1-21-2021; operative 1/21/2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2021, No. 4).