(a)        A foreign corporation, foreign nonprofit corporation, foreign limited liability company, foreign limited partnership, or foreign limited liability partnership may register its name, or its name with any addition required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55D-22, if the name to be registered is distinguishable upon the records of the Secretary of State from the names that are not available under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55D-21(b).

(b)        An entity described in subsection (a) of this section registers its name, or its name with any addition required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55D-22, by filing with the Secretary of State an application:

(1)        Setting forth its name, or its name with any addition required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55D-22, the state or country and date of its incorporation or formation, and a brief description of the nature of the business or activities in which it is engaged; and

(2)        Accompanied by a certificate of existence (or a document of a similar import) from the state or country of incorporation or formation.

(c)        The name is registered for the applicant’s exclusive use upon the effective date of the application and until the end of the calendar year in which it became effective.

(d)       An entity whose registration is effective may renew it for successive years by filing with the Secretary of State 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 renews the registration for the following calendar year. Any renewal application filed after the expiration of the registration shall be treated as a new application for registration.

(e)        An entity whose registration is effective may thereafter become authorized to transact business or conduct affairs under that name or consent in writing to the use of that name by:

(1)        A domestic corporation, nonprofit corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, or registered limited liability partnership thereafter incorporated, formed, or registered in this State under that name;

(2)        A domestic corporation, nonprofit corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, or registered limited liability partnership that changes its name to that name; or

(3)        Another foreign corporation, foreign nonprofit corporation, foreign limited liability company, foreign limited partnership, or foreign limited liability partnership that becomes authorized to transact business or conduct affairs in this State under that name.

The registration terminates when the domestic corporation, nonprofit corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, or registered limited liability partnership is incorporated, formed, registered, or changes its name or the foreign corporation, foreign nonprofit corporation, foreign limited liability company, foreign limited partnership, or foreign limited liability partnership qualifies or registers or consents to the qualification or registration of another entity under the registered name. (1901, c. 2, s. 8; 1903, c. 453; Rev., s. 1137; 1913, c. 5, s. 1; C.S., s. 1114; 1935, cc. 166, 320; 1939, c. 222; G.S., s. 55-2; 1955, c. 1371, s. 1; 1959, c. 1316, s. 28; 1969, c. 751, ss. 4-6; 1973, c. 469, s. 45.3; 1989, c. 265, s. 1; 2001-358, ss. 14(b), 15; 2001-387, ss. 165(a), 165(b), 173, 175(a); 2001-413, s. 6.)