1 Texas Administrative Code § 79.38 – Distinguishable Names
Without limiting the discretion of the Secretary of State to determine that a proposed name is the same as an existing name, entity names are distinguishable and are therefore available if a comparison of the names reveals sufficient differences, or if one or more of the following conditions exist:
(1) A difference of at least one key word.
(A) “Sunshine Community Development” is distinguishable from “Sunshine Community Properties”.
(B) “United” is distinguishable from “United One”.
(C) “Real Homes of Austin” is distinguishable from “Real Homes”.
(D) “Texas Cowboys” is the same as “The Texas Cowboys”.
(2) The key words are the same but are in a different order.
(A) “Summit Energy” is distinguishable from “Energy Summit”.
(B) “Global One” is distinguishable from “One Global”.
(C) “Austin Auto Parts” is distinguishable from “Auto Parts of Austin”.
(3) The key words or contractions of key words are derived from the same root word.
(A) “Great Products” is distinguishable from “Great Productions”.
(B) “Magic Professionals” is distinguishable from “Magical Professionals”.
(4) The key words are the same but are in a different language.
(A) “Casa Blanca Productions” is distinguishable from “White House Productions”.
(B) “Tejas Enterprises” is distinguishable from “Texas Enterprises”.
(C) “El Rodeo” is the same as “Rodeo” or “The Rodeo”.
(5) The key word or words sound the same but at least one word, on its face, has a different meaning or connotation.
(A) “Jones Tires” is distinguishable from “Joan’s Tires”.
(B) “Capitol Investments” is distinguishable from “Capital Investments”.
(C) “Express Auto” is the same as “Xpress Auto”.
(D) “One World” is the same as “1 World”.
(6) The key word or words are the same except for the addition, substitution, or omission of prepositions which alter the names sufficiently to make the names distinguishable.
(A) “In the Know” is distinguishable from “Know”.
(B) “Friends” is distinguishable from “Between Friends”.
(C) “Books for People” is distinguishable from “Books by People”.
(D) “Look to the Future” is the same as “Look toward the Future”.
