Sec. 217.

(1) Except as provided in section 212 or otherwise prohibited by law, a domestic or foreign corporation may transact business under any assumed name or names other than its corporate name by filing a certificate that states the true name of the corporation and the assumed name under which the business is to be transacted. A certificate of assumed name is effective, unless sooner terminated by filing a certificate of termination or by the dissolution or withdrawal of the corporation, for a period that expires on December 31 of the fifth full calendar year following the year in which it was filed. A certificate of assumed name may be extended for additional consecutive periods of 5 full calendar years each by filing similar certificates not earlier than 90 days before the expiration of the initial or a subsequent 5-year period. The administrator shall notify the corporation of the impending expiration of the certificate of assumed name not later than 90 days before the expiration of the initial or a subsequent 5-year period. If authorized by the corporation, the administrator may electronically transmit the notice to the resident agent of the corporation. A certificate of assumed name filed under this section does not create substantive rights to the use of a particular assumed name.

(2) The same name may be assumed by 2 or more corporations, or by 1 or more corporations and 1 or more limited partnerships or other enterprises participating together in a partnership or joint venture. Each participant corporation shall file a certificate under this section.

(3) A corporation that participates in a merger, or any other entity that participates in a merger under section 736, may transfer to the surviving entity the use of an assumed name for which a certificate of assumed name is on file with the administrator before the merger, if the transfer is noted in the certificate of merger as provided in section 707(1)(g), 712(1)(c), or 736(7)(f) or other applicable statute. The use of an assumed name transferred under this subsection may continue for the remaining effective period of the certificate of assumed name on file before the merger, and the surviving entity may terminate or extend the certificate of assumed name under subsection (1).

(4) A corporation that survives a merger may use as an assumed name the corporate name of a merging corporation, or the name of any other entity that participates in the merger under section 736, by filing a certificate of assumed name under subsection (1) or by providing for the use of the name as an assumed name in the certificate of merger. The surviving corporation also may file a certificate of assumed name under subsection (1) or provide in the certificate of merger for the use as an assumed name of an assumed name of a merging entity that is not transferred under subsection (3). A provision in a certificate of merger under this subsection shall be treated as a new certificate of assumed name.

(5) A business organization into which a corporation has converted under section 745 may use an assumed name of the converting corporation, if the corporation has a certificate of assumed name for that assumed name on file with the administrator before the conversion, by providing for the use of the name as an assumed name in the certificate of conversion. The use of an assumed name under this subsection may continue for the remaining effective period of the certificate of assumed name on file before the conversion, and the surviving business organization may terminate or extend the certificate of assumed name in the manner described in subsection (1).

(6) A corporation into which 1 or more business organizations have converted under section 746 may use as an assumed name the name of any business organization that converted into that corporation, or use as an assumed name an assumed name of that business organization, by filing a certificate of assumed name under subsection (1) or by providing for the use of that name or assumed name as an assumed name of the corporation in the certificate of conversion. A provision in the certificate of conversion under this subsection shall be treated as a new certificate of assumed name.

History: 1972, Act 284, Eff. Jan. 1, 1973 ;-- Am. 1974, Act 303, Imd. Eff. Oct. 21, 1974 ;-- Am. 1989, Act 121, Eff. Oct. 1, 1989 ;-- Am. 1997, Act 118, Imd. Eff. Oct. 24, 1997 ;-- Am. 2008, Act 402, Imd. Eff. Jan. 6, 2009 ;-- Am. 2018, Act 85, Eff. June 24, 2018