Sec. B-46. 13-C MRSA §401, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 640, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §7, is amended to read:

6. Determining distinguishability. In determining whether names are "distinguishable on the records," the Secretary of State shall disregard the following:

A. The words or abbreviations of words that describe the nature of the entity, including "professional association," "corporation," "company," "incorporated," "chartered," "limited," "limited partnership," "limited liability company," "professional limited liability company," "limited liability partnership," "registered limited liability partnership," "service corporation" or "professional corporation";

B. The presence or absence of the words or symbols of the words "and," and "the" and "a"; and

C. The differences in the use of punctuation, capitalization or special characters; and.

D. The differences in the uses of singular and plural forms of words.

Sec. B-47. 13-C MRSA §401, sub-§7 is enacted to read:

7.__Change of corporate name by foreign corporation.__If a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this State changes its corporate name to one that does not satisfy the requirements of this section, the foreign corporation may not transact business in this State under the proposed new name until it adopts a name satisfying the requirements of this section and files an amended application for authority under section 1504 that is accompanied by a statement of use of a fictitious name under section 404.

Sec. B-48. 13-C MRSA §403, sub-§2, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 640, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §7, is amended to read: