Opinion ID: 353195
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: misappropriation of corporate name

Text: 27 The district court found that Mercer did not use the name of his Texas corporation, C. A. Roberts Co., Inc., to solicit business, that he did not mislead potential customers by using that name, and that he transacted no business whatsoever under that name. These findings are not clearly erroneous. 28 Roberts, however, contends that Mercer's reservation of the name C. A. Roberts Co., Inc. with the Texas Secretary of State prevented the company from qualifying to do business in Texas and from building a warehouse in the state. However, the record is devoid of any attempt of the company to so qualify to do business in Texas. See Tex.Bus.Corp.Act art. 8.01. At the time of trial Roberts had not paid franchise taxes to the State of Texas, although it had been doing business in the state for several years, and had not attempted to register its corporate name with the Secretary of State. See Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann., Taxation-General, art. 12.01 (franchise taxes); Tex.Bus.Corp. Act art. 2.07 (reservation of corporate name). The district court properly concluded that Roberts suffered no injury from Mercer's formation of the Texas corporation, which was dissolved prior to trial.