21 NCAC 32C .0102         NAME OF PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

The following requirements must be met regarding the name of a professional corporation to practice medicine:

(1)           The name shall not include any adjectives or other words not in accordance with ethical customs of the medical profession as defined by the American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics, and shall not be false, misleading, deceptive or patently offensive.

(2)           The professional corporation may not be identical or so similar in name to an existing registered business entity as to be misleading.

(3)           The professional corporation may not use any name other than its corporate name.

(4)           The professional corporation shall specify its corporate structure in the public domain by the use of the designation "P.C.", "P.A." or "P.L.L.C."

(5)           A shareholder may authorize the retention of his surname in the corporate name after his retirement or inactivity because of age or disability, even though he may have disposed of his stock.  The estate of a deceased shareholder may authorize the retention of the deceased shareholder's surname in the corporate name after the shareholder's death.

(6)           If a living shareholder in a professional corporation whose surname appears in the corporate name becomes a "disqualified person" as defined in the Professional Corporation Act, the name of the professional corporation shall be promptly changed to eliminate the name of the shareholder, and the shareholder shall promptly dispose of his stock in the corporation.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 55B-5; 55B-7; 55B-12;

Eff. February 1, 1976;

Amended Eff. May 1, 2012; July 1, 1993; May 1, 1989;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. March 1, 2016.