Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: business naming

Including bank in the corporate name does create issues. Let me suggest an easy solution - who cares what the name of your corporation is as long as you market your services under your service mark. For instance, amusement park services marketed under the name Disneyland are not provided by a corporation named Disneyland, Inc. - they are provided by The Walt Disney Co, Inc.

Call your corporation whatever you want ABCXYZ, Inc. and then provide services under your Bank of Los Angeles service mark.

I don't know how long you have been in business, but you should strongly consider conducting a clearance search to make sure you are not at risk of infringement. Also, if available, you should consider registering your service mark. I specialize in trademark law and can help if needed.

Feel free to contact me.

Re: business naming

The prohibition against using the word "bank" in your business name (unless you are a bank) is not about "America being money-revering," it's about protecting people from possible fraud.

You could perhaps use a business name containing terms similar to "ImageBank" or "RiverBank," subject, of course, to the possibility that there are persons holding existing trademark rights in those names.

"Murder Inc." is a trademark of the Mob.

Re: business naming

There are actually quite a number of restrictions on what names you can use for each business entity. This is to prevent confusion between entities, and to stop people from illicitly passing their business off as something they are not. I am sure you can see why the State would have an interest in not allowing someone to claim they are a financial institution when they are not bonded or registered, hence giving "ligitamecy" to many loan sharks. Unfortunately if we create laws to protect consumers, it sometimes affects those it was not intended to. I would point out to you as well that thier already is a Bank of Los Angeles, which is actually a Bank. Using their name will most likely get you in a lot more trouble then just with the State.

Re: business naming

The prohibition on the use of the word "bank" in corporate names is found in Corporations Code section 201(a), which provides:

"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 it attached thereto."

The purpose of the law is to prevent the public from being misled into believing that money they might give to a corporation was going into a bank account, that it would be insured, that they could withdraw it on demand, etc. In other words, it is a consumer protection law, not a law in deference to Mammon.

Also, with respect to the suggestion that you could use your name as a fictitious business name even if you can't incorporate under this name, I suggest you look at Financial Code section 3392, which appears to extend the naming prohibition beyond mere incorporation to "use" of a name containing "bank." My reading of this law leads me to believe that one must not only use "bank" but must also hold oneself out to be in the banking business before the law is violated, but I can't be sure how some aggressive attorney, prosecutor or bureaucrat might interpret it. So, be careful and good luck!