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New York · Through 2026-09-11

N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 303: Reservation of name

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law
  2. Article 3. Corporate Name and Service of Process

§ 303. Reservation of name.

(a) A corporate name may be reserved by:

(1) Any person intending to form a domestic corporation.

(2) Any domestic corporation intending to change its name.

(3) Any foreign corporation intending to apply for authority to

conduct activities in this state.

(4) Any authorized foreign corporation intending to change its name.

(5) Any person intending to incorporate a foreign corporation and to

have it apply for authority to conduct activities in this state.

(6) Any domestic corporation intending to file the consent of the

attorney general to reinstate such corporation pursuant to section 1014

of this chapter.

(b) A fictitious name for use pursuant to section 1301 of this chapter

may be reserved by:

(1) Any foreign corporation intending to apply for authority to do

business in this state, pursuant to paragraph (d) of section 1301 of

this chapter.

(2) Any authorized foreign corporation intending to change its

fictitious name under which it conducts activities in this state.

(3) Any authorized foreign corporation which has changed its corporate

name in its jurisdiction, which new corporate name is not available in

this state.

(c) Application to reserve a corporate name shall be delivered to the

department of state. It shall set forth the name and address of the

applicant, the name to be reserved and a statement of the basis under

paragraph (a) or (b) for the application. The secretary of state may

require the applicant to set forth in his application the nature of the

activities to be conducted by the corporation. If the name is available

for corporate use, the department of state shall reserve the name for

the use of the applicant for a period of sixty days and issue a

certificate of reservation. The prohibitions, restrictions and

qualifications set forth in section 301 (Corporate name; general),

section 302 (Corporate name; exceptions) and section 404 (Approvals,

notices and consents) are not waived by the issuance of a certificate of

reservation. The certificate of reservation shall include the name of

the applicant, the name reserved and the date of the reservation. The

certificate of reservation (or in lieu thereof an affidavit by the

applicant or by his agent or attorney that the certificate of

reservation has been lost or destroyed) shall accompany the certificate

of incorporation or the application for authority when either is

delivered to the department of state.

(d) The secretary of state may extend the reservation for additional

periods of not more than sixty days each, upon the written request of

the applicant, his attorney or agent delivered to the department of

state, to be filed before the expiration of the reservation period then

in effect. Such request shall have attached to it the certificate of

reservation of name. Not more than two such extensions shall be granted.

(e) Upon the request of the applicant, delivered to the department of

state before the expiration of the reserved period, together with the

certificate of reservation, the department shall cancel the reservation.

(f) Any application or request under this section shall be signed by

the applicant, his attorney or agent.

Collected 2026-09-14T19:32:45Z. Source file · JSON

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