Sec. 206.
(1) A domestic or foreign limited liability company may transact business under an assumed name or names other than its name as set forth in its articles of organization or certificate of authority, if not precluded from use of the assumed name or names under section 204(3), by filing a certificate stating the true name of the company and the assumed name or names under which business is to be transacted.
(2) A certificate of assumed name is effective, unless terminated by filing a certificate of termination or by the dissolution or withdrawal of the company, for a period expiring on December 31 of the fifth full calendar year following the year in which the certificate of assumed name was filed. The certificate of assumed name may be extended for additional consecutive periods of 5 full calendar years each by filing a similar certificate of assumed name not earlier than 90 days before the expiration of the initial or any subsequent 5-year period.
(3) The administrator shall notify a domestic or foreign limited liability company of the impending expiration of a certificate of assumed name not later than 90 days before the expiration of the initial or any subsequent 5-year period described in subsection (2).
(4) Filing a certificate of assumed name under this section does not create substantive rights to the use of a particular assumed name.
(5) The same name may be assumed by 2 or more limited liability companies or by 1 or more limited liability companies and 1 or more corporations, limited partnerships, or other enterprises participating together in a partnership or joint venture. Each participating limited liability company shall file a certificate of assumed name under this section.
(6) A limited liability company participating in a merger, or any other entity participating in a merger under section 705a, may transfer to the survivor the use of an assumed name for which a certificate of assumed name is on file with the administrator before the merger, if the transfer of the assumed name is noted in the certificate of merger as provided in section 703(1)(c), 705a(7)(c), or other applicable statute. The use of an assumed name transferred under this subsection may continue for the remaining effective period of the certificate of assumed name on file before the merger and the survivor may terminate or extend the certificate in accordance with subsection (2).
(7) A limited liability company surviving a merger may use as an assumed name the name of a merging limited liability company, or the name of any other entity participating in the merger under section 705a, by filing a certificate of assumed name under subsection (1) or by providing for the use of the assumed name in the certificate of merger. The surviving limited liability company may also file a certificate of assumed name under subsection (1) or provide in the certificate of merger for the use of an assumed name of a merging entity not transferred pursuant to subsection (6). A provision in the certificate of merger pursuant to this subsection is treated as a new certificate of assumed name.
(8) A business organization into which a domestic limited liability company has converted under section 708 may use an assumed name of the converting company, if the company has a certificate of assumed name for that assumed name on file with the administrator before the conversion, by providing for the use of the name as an assumed name in the certificate of conversion. The use of an assumed name under this subsection may continue for the remaining effective period of the certificate of assumed name on file before the conversion, and the surviving business organization may terminate or extend the certificate of assumed name in the manner described in subsection (2).
(9) A domestic limited liability company into which a business organization has converted under section 709 may use as an assumed name the name of the business organization converting into that company, or use as an assumed name an assumed name of that business organization, by filing a certificate of assumed name under subsection (2) or by providing for the use of that name or assumed name as an assumed name of the company in the certificate of conversion. A provision in the certificate of conversion under this subsection shall be treated as a new certificate of assumed name.
History: 1993, Act 23, Eff. June 1, 1993 ;-- Am. 1997, Act 52, Imd. Eff. July 1, 1997 ;-- Am. 2008, Act 567, Imd. Eff. Jan. 16, 2009 ;-- Am. 2010, Act 290, Imd. Eff. Dec. 16, 2010