SECTION 7.702. General Rules and Policies

In addition to the specific standards heretofore enumerated for the approval or disapproval of names, the board hereby adopts and records the following general rules and policies respecting name approval.

(1) The provisions of these statutes are not a statutory restatement of the common law as respects the rights to a name or the rights not to have a name used by another, and the determination of the board is only on the basis of whether the name is so similar to another as to mislead the public. An example of one of the reasons for that determination is that no statutory provision is made for notification of companies with similar names.

(2) The board will not give an advisory opinion of the common law rights of parties or possible parties to a name controversy.

(3) The sole question of whether the name is so similar as to be likely to mislead the public will be made by the agency without consideration of the common law decisions heretofore made by courts of record.

Source Note: The provisions of this §7.702 adopted to be effective January 1, 1976; amended to be effective April 1, 1983, 8 TexReg 922.