805 ILCS 105/104.05

(805 ILCS 105/104.05) (from Ch. 32, par. 104.05)

Sec. 104.05. Corporate name of domestic or foreign corporation.

(a) The corporate name of a domestic corporation or of a foreign corporation organized, existing or subject to the provisions of this Act:

(1) May contain, separate and apart from any other word or abbreviation in such name, the word "corporation," "company," "incorporated," or "limited," or an abbreviation of one of such words;

(2) Must end with the letters "NFP" if the corporate name contains any word or phrase which indicates or implies that the corporation is organized for any purpose other than a purpose for which corporations may be organized under this Act or a purpose other than a purpose set forth in the corporation's articles of incorporation;

(3) Shall be distinguishable upon the records in the office of the Secretary of State from the name or assumed name of any domestic corporation or limited liability company organized under the Limited Liability Company Act, whether for profit or not for profit, existing under any Act of this State or the name or assumed name of any foreign corporation or foreign limited liability company registered under the Limited Liability Company Act, whether for profit or not for profit, authorized to transact business or conduct affairs in this State, or a name the exclusive right to which is, at the time, reserved or registered in the manner provided in this Act or Section 1-15 of the Limited Liability Company Act, except that, subject to the discretion of the Secretary of State, a foreign corporation that has a name prohibited by this paragraph may be granted authority to conduct its affairs in this State, if the foreign corporation:

(i) Elects to adopt an assumed corporation name or names in accordance with Section 104.15 of this Act; and

(ii) Agrees in its application for authority to conduct affairs in this State only under such assumed corporate name or names;

(4) Shall not contain a word or phrase, or an abbreviation or derivation thereof, the use of which is prohibited or restricted by any other statute of this State unless such restriction has been complied with;

(5) Shall consist of letters of the English alphabet, Arabic or Roman numerals, or symbols capable of being readily reproduced by the office of the Secretary of State;

(6) Shall not contain the words "regular democrat," "regular democratic," "regular republican," "democrat," "democratic," or "republican," nor the name of any other established political party, unless consent to usage of such words or name is given to the corporation by the State central committee of such established political party; notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, any corporation, whose name at the time this amendatory Act takes effect contains any of the words listed in this paragraph shall certify to the Secretary of State no later than January 1, 1989, that consent has been given by the State central committee; consent given to a corporation by the State central committee to use the above listed words may be revoked upon notification to the corporation and the Secretary of State; and

(7) Shall be the name under which the corporation shall conduct affairs in this State unless the corporation shall also elect to adopt an assumed corporate name or names as provided in this Act; provided, however, that the corporation may use any divisional designation or trade name without complying with the requirements of this Act, provided the corporation also clearly discloses its corporate name.

(8) (Blank).

(b) The Secretary of State shall determine whether a name is "distinguishable" from another name for purposes of this Act. Without excluding other names which may not constitute distinguishable names in this State, a name is not considered distinguishable, for purposes of this Act, solely because it contains one or more of the following:

(1) The word "corporation," "company," "incorporated," or "limited" or an abbreviation of one of such words;

(2) Articles, conjunctions, contractions, abbreviations, different tenses or number of the same word.

(c) Nothing in this Section or Sections 104.15 or 104.20 of this Act shall:

(1) Require any domestic corporation existing or any foreign corporation having authority to conduct affairs on the effective date of this Act, to modify or otherwise change its corporate name or assumed corporate name, if any; or

(2) Abrogate or limit the common law or statutory law of unfair competition or unfair trade practices, nor derogate from the common law or principles of equity or the statutes of this State or of the United States with respect to the right to acquire and protect copyrights, trade names, trade marks, service names, service marks, or any other right to the exclusive use of name or symbols.

(Source: P.A. 100-753, eff. 1-1-19.)