Sec. 35-1b. Renewal or cancellation of trade name certificate.
Sec. 35-2. Use of word “banking” and similar words as part of business name.
Sec. 35-3. Use of word “banking” by bankers' associations.
Sec. 35-1. Use of fictitious business names. Prohibitions and exceptions. Penalty. Unfair trade practices. Section 35-1 is repealed, effective January 1, 2025.
(1949 Rev., S. 6728; 1957, P.A. 96; 1967, P.A. 84; P.A. 75-68; P.A. 83-158, S. 2; 83-587, S. 52, 96; P.A. 89-252, S. 10, 11; P.A. 94-217, S. 32; P.A. 96-180, S. 110, 166; P.A. 98-101; P.A. 16-97, S. 107; P.A. 19-40, S. 13; P.A. 24-111, S. 56.)
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Sec. 35-1a. Transacting business under assumed or fictitious name prohibited. Application for and issuance of trade name certificate. (a) No person shall transact business in this state under any assumed or fictitious name, or under any designation, name or style, corporate or otherwise, other than the real name or names of the person or persons transacting such business, unless a trade name certificate has been issued in accordance with this section or section 35-1b.
(b) An application for a trade name certificate shall be filed on a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State in the office of the town clerk in the town in which such business is, or will be, principally transacted.
(1) An application filed by a natural person or a group of natural persons shall provide: (a) The name under which such business is, or will be, transacted, (B) the physical address of the business located in the town of filing, (C) the valid electronic mail address of the business, and (D) the full name, physical address and valid electronic mail address of each person transacting such business.
(2) For the purposes of this section, “business organization” means any corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership or limited liability company on record with the Secretary of the State. An application filed by a business organization shall provide: (a) The name under which such business is, or will be, transacted, (B) the business identification number for the business organization provided by the Secretary of the State, (C) the name of the corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership or limited liability company on file with the Secretary of the State, (D) the principal business address of the business organization on file with the Secretary of the State, and (E) the electronic mail address of the business organization.
(c) An application for a trade name certificate shall be executed by each natural person filing such application or, in the case of a business organization, by an authorized officer of such business organization and acknowledged before an authority qualified to administer oaths. The filing fee for the trade name application shall be in accordance with section 7-34a.
(d) A town clerk shall issue a trade name certificate upon acceptance of a trade name application filed in accordance with this section or section 35-1b. Such certificate shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of issuance.
(e) All trade name certificates issued prior to January 1, 2025, shall expire on December 31, 2029, unless renewed in accordance with this act. A trade name in existence prior to January 1, 2025, may be renewed at any time during such five-year period and the renewed trade name shall be valid for five years from the date such renewal is accepted by the town clerk.
(P.A. 24-111, S. 34.)
History: P.A. 24-111 effective January 1, 2025.
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Sec. 35-1b. Renewal or cancellation of trade name certificate. (a) A trade name certificate may be renewed not earlier than six months prior to the expiration date of such certificate and not later than the expiration date of such certificate. An application for renewal shall be on a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State and provide the information required by section 35-1a. Upon acceptance of an application for renewal, the town clerk shall issue a new trade name certificate, which shall be valid for five years from the expiration date of the previous certificate. The filing fee for a trade name renewal shall be in accordance with section 7-34a.
(b) Any information contained on an original application for a trade name certificate or a renewal application may be amended by the filer at any time prior to the expiration of the trade name certificate and the fee for such amendment shall be in accordance with section 7-34a.
(c) A trade name certificate may be cancelled by the filer prior to the expiration date of the trade name certificate upon filing a cancellation of the trade name certificate with the town clerk of the town where the original application was filed, and the fee for such cancellation shall be in accordance with section 7-34a.
(P.A. 24-111, S. 35.)
History: P.A. 24-111 effective January 1, 2025.
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Sec. 35-1c. Alphabetical index of trade name certificates. Electronic system for searching of trade name certificate information. (a) Each town clerk shall keep an alphabetical index of the trade name certificates issued by such town clerk and the natural persons, corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships or limited liability companies filing such trade name applications.
(b) The Secretary of the State shall create an electronic system for town clerks to process applications for trade name certificates. Such system shall provide for state-wide public searching of trade name certificate information. Any town clerk utilizing such system shall be deemed to have complied with the indexing requirements in subsection (a) of this section. On and after January 1, 2026, the Secretary may require town clerks to utilize the electronic system described in this section.
(P.A. 24-111, S. 36.)
History: P.A. 24-111 effective January 1, 2025.
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Sec. 35-1d. Trade name certificates. Exceptions to when required. Penalty. Unfair or deceptive trade practice. (a) A copy of any trade name certificate, certified by the town clerk from whose office the same has been issued, shall be presumptive evidence, in all courts in this state, of the facts contained in such certificate. The provisions of sections 35a-1a to 35a-1c, inclusive, shall not prevent the lawful use of a partnership name or designation, if such partnership name or designation includes the true surname of at least one of the individuals composing such partnership.
(b) A trade name certificate shall not be required for any domestic or foreign limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, corporation or statutory trust registered with the Secretary of the State pursuant to title 33 or 34, as applicable, provided such entity transacts business under the name stated in its formation or registration document, as applicable, filed with the Secretary of the State.
(c) Nothing in sections 35-1a to 35-1e, inclusive, shall require any town clerk to determine that the trade name that is the subject of a trade name certificate issued pursuant to section 35-1a or 35-1b is unique in the town of filing or in any other town in the state.
(d) Any person transacting business in violation of the provisions of sections 35-1a to 35-1e, inclusive, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, imprisoned not more than one year, or both. Failure to comply with the provisions of sections 35-1a to 35-1e, inclusive, shall be deemed to be an unfair or deceptive trade practice under subsection (a) of section 42-110b.
(P.A. 24-111, S. 37.)
History: P.A. 24-111 effective January 1, 2025.
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Sec. 35-1e. Prohibition on use of assumed or fictitious name that includes name of municipality in printed advertisement. Unfair or deceptive trade practice. Exceptions. (a) No person shall use, in any printed advertisement, an assumed or fictitious name for the conduct of such person's business that includes the name of any municipality in this state in such a manner as to suggest that such person's business is located in such municipality unless: (1) Such person's business is, in fact, located in such municipality; or (2) such person includes in any such printed advertisement the complete street address of the location from which such person's business is actually conducted, including the municipality and, if located outside of Connecticut, the state in which such person's business is located. A violation of any provision of this section by a person conducting business under an assumed or fictitious name that includes the name of a municipality in this state shall be deemed an unfair or deceptive trade practice under subsection (a) of section 42-110b.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the use of (1) any trademark or service mark registered under the laws of this state or under federal law, (2) any name that, when applied to the goods or services of such person's business, is merely descriptive of them, or (3) any name that is merely a surname.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose any liability on any publisher that relies on the written assurances of a person placing such printed advertisement that such person has authority to use any such assumed or fictitious name.
(P.A. 24-111, S. 38.)
History: P.A. 24-111 effective January 1, 2025.
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Sec. 35-2. Use of word “banking” and similar words as part of business name. No partnership, common law trust or association, or individual using a trade name, shall use, either as a part of its name or as a prefix or suffix thereto or as a designation of the business carried on by it, the word “bank”, “banking”, “banker”, “bankers”, “trust” or “savings”, provided either the word “bankers” or the word “trust” may be so used when qualified and immediately preceded by the word “investment”, but not followed by the word “company” or “corporation”. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any charitable or athletic association. No provision of this section shall prevent any savings and loan association organized under the provisions of section 36a-70 from using the term “savings” either as a part of its name or as a prefix or suffix thereto or as a designation of the business carried on by it.
(1949 Rev., S. 6729; P.A. 93-55, S. 7; P.A. 03-19, S. 79; 03-196, S. 18.)
History: P.A. 93-55 made technical changes, deleting reference to repealed Sec. 36-157; P.A. 03-19 made technical changes, effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 03-196 made a technical change, effective July 1, 2003.
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Sec. 35-3. Use of word “banking” by bankers' associations. The provisions of sections 33-655 and 35-2 shall not apply to nor prohibit the use of the words “banks”, “bankers” and “banking” in their titles by The Connecticut Bankers' Association, The Savings Banks' Association of Connecticut, any chapter, whether incorporated or not, affiliated and in good standing with The American Institute of Banking, or by any other associations of state bank and trust companies, national banking associations and mutual savings banks or by associations of their employees.
(1949 Rev., S. 6730; 1953, S. 2872d; P.A. 73-616, S. 33; P.A. 96-271, S. 187, 254.)
History: P.A. 73-616 substituted reference to Sec. 33-287 for reference to Sec. 33-13; P.A. 96-271 replaced reference to Sec. 33-287 with Sec. 33-655, effective January 1, 1997.
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