21 NCAC 02 .0205             NAME OF FIRM

(a)  A licensee or registrant shall not engage in the practice of architecture or registered interior design under a firm name which is misleading or deceptive in any way as to the legal form of the firm or the persons who are partners, officers, members, or shareholders in the firm. The Board shall approve all firm names to be used in this State. Examples of misleading or deceptive firm names include the following:

(1)           use of the plural "architects" or "registered interior designers" by a sole practitioner or a firm employing only one architect or registered interior designer in a firm does not warrant such use;

(2)           use of the name of an employee unless that employee is a licensed or registered partner, licensed or registered officer, licensed or registered member or licensed or registered shareholder;

(3)           use of the name of a deceased architect or registered interior designer in order to benefit from their reputation, when that architect or registered interior designer was not a former partner, officer, member or shareholder in the present firm;

(4)           use a name which is deceptively similar to that of an existing firm name; and

(5)           use of a fictitious or assumed name by a sole proprietor.

(b)  Failure of the firm to register a fictitious or assumed name shall be prima facie evidence of the name being misleading or deceptive.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 55B-5; 83A-6; 83A-8; 83A-9; 83A-12;

Eff. February 1, 1976;

Readopted Eff. September 29, 1977;

Amended Eff. November 1, 2010; July 1, 2006; June 1, 1995, April 1, 1991; May 1, 1989;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. January 13, 2015;

Temporary Amendment Eff. November 30, 2021;

Amended Eff. June 1, 2022.