North Dakota Trade Name Legislative Summary

The 58th Legislative Assembly of North Dakota passed legislation that affects trade name registrations filed with the Secretary of State. The legislative bills and changes are summarized as follows:

HB 1498: (Effective date August 1, 2003)

• Introduces the concept of electronic filing of trade name registrations with the Secretary of State, defining an electronic record as a legal record created without the physical transmission of paper. The filing must be sent by a method or medium of communication acceptable by the Secretary of State. Electronic filing will be initiated with fax filings (701-328-2992) with credit card payment authorization.
• Provides that a trade name may not contain the word "company", "corporation", "incorporated", "limited", "limited liability company", "limited partnership", "limited liability partnership", "limited liability limited partnership", or any abbreviation of any of these words unless the owner of the trade name is a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability limited partnership as indicated by the words in the name.
• Authorizes the renewal of a registered trade name within ninety days prior to the expiration.
• Privatizes any social security number of federal tax identification number disclosed or contained in any document filed with the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State must take reasonable precautions to delete or obscure any social security number or federal tax identification numbers before releasing copies of documents to the public.