(a) A person doing business in this State under any name other than his or her own, and every copartnership or association of individuals, except corporations and limited liability companies, doing business in this State, resident or nonresident, shall cause to be recorded with the Secretary of State a return setting forth the name under which such business is carried on, the name of the town wherein such place of business is located, a brief description of the kind of business to be transacted under such name, and the individual names and residences of all persons, general partners, or members so doing business thereunder.

(b) Such returns shall be subscribed and sworn to by one or more of the persons so doing business, and shall be filed with the Secretary of State within 10 days after commencement of business.

(c) The Secretary of State shall decline to register any business name unless the name is distinguishable in the records of the Secretary of State from any other business name of any name registered or reserved under this chapter, or the name of any other entity, whether domestic or foreign, that is reserved, registered, or granted by or with the Secretary of State, or any name that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the business is a type of entity that it is not.

(d) The Secretary of State shall establish rules and regulations for the administration of this section.

(e) Prior to registering its business name under this section, a person intending to operate a postsecondary school, as defined in 16 V.S.A. §§ 176 and 176a, shall apply to the State Board of Education for a certificate of approval pursuant to those sections. (Amended 1961, No. 217, § 1, eff. July 13, 1961; 1981, No. 125 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1993, No. 221 (Adj. Sess.), § 24; 1995, No. 166 (Adj. Sess.), § 14; 1995, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § 1c, eff. Jan. 1, 1997; 1995, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 6, 7; 2001, No. 19, § 3; 2011, No. 84 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 20, 2012; 2015, No. 17, § 3.)