wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2248 > Original Bill
Any trademark and its registration or application for registration hereunder shall be assignable with the good will of the business in which the trademark is used, or with that part of the good will of the business connected with the use of and symbolized by the trademark. An assignment by an instrument in writing duly executed and acknowledged, or the designation of a legal representative, successor, or agent for service shall be recorded by the secretary of state on request when accompanied by a fee, as set by rule by the secretary of state, payable to the secretary of state. An assignment of any registration or application for registration under this chapter shall be void as against any subsequent purchaser for a valuable consideration without notice, unless it is recorded with the secretary of state within three months after the date thereof or prior to such subsequent purchase.
An application for registration as an international student exchange visitor placement organization shall be submitted in the form prescribed by the secretary of state. The application shall include:
Evidence that the organization meets the standards established by the secretary of state under RCW 19.166.050;
The name, address, and telephone number of the organization, its chief executive officer, and the person within the organization who has primary responsibility for supervising placements within the state;
The organization's unified business identification number, if any;
The organization's United States Information Agency number, if any;
Evidence of council on standards for international educational travel listing, if any;
Whether the organization is exempt from federal income tax; and
A list of the organization's placements in Washington for the previous academic year including the number of students placed, their home countries, the school districts in which they were placed, and the length of their placements.
The application shall be signed by the chief executive officer of the organization and the person within the organization who has primary responsibility for supervising placements within Washington. If the secretary of state determines that the application is complete, the secretary of state shall file the application and the applicant is registered.
International student exchange visitor placement organizations that have registered shall inform the secretary of state of any changes in the information required under subsection (1) of this section within thirty days of the change.
Registration shall be renewed annually as established by rule by the office of the secretary of state.
Reinstatement procedures shall be established by rule by the office of the secretary of state.
The office of the secretary of state shall immediately suspend the license or certificate of a person who has been certified pursuant to RCW 74.20A.320 by the department of social and health services as a person who is not in compliance with a support order or a residential or visitation order. If the person has continued to meet all other requirements for reinstatement during the suspension, reissuance of the license or certificate shall be automatic upon the office of the secretary of state's receipt of a release issued by the department of social and health services stating that the licensee is in compliance with the order.
The secretary of state shall file an entity filing that satisfies this chapter. The duty of the secretary of state under this section is ministerial.
The secretary of state shall document the date of receipt of an entity filing. After processing and accepting an entity filing, the secretary of state shall deliver to the person that submitted the filing a copy of the filed record with an acknowledgment of the date and time of processing.
If the secretary of state refuses to file an entity filing, the secretary of state not later than fifteen business days after the filing is received, shall:
Return the entity filing or notify the person that submitted the filing of the refusal; and
Provide a brief explanation in a record of the reason for the refusal.
If the secretary of state refuses to file an entity filing, the person that submitted the entity filing may petition the superior court to compel its filing. The entity filing and the explanation of the secretary of state of the refusal to file must be attached to the petition. The court may decide the matter in a summary proceeding.
The filing of or refusal to file an entity filing does not:
Affect the validity or invalidity of the entity filing in whole or in part;
Relate to the correctness or incorrectness of information contained in the entity filing; or
Create a presumption that the information contained in the filing is correct or incorrect.
A domestic entity shall, within one hundred twenty days of the date on which its public organic record became effective, deliver to the secretary of state for filing an initial report that states the information required under subsection (2) of this section.
A domestic entity or registered foreign entity shall deliver to the secretary of state for filing an annual report that states:
The name of the entity and its jurisdiction of formation;
The name and street and mailing addresses of the entity's registered agent in this state;
The street and mailing addresses of the entity's principal office;
In the case of a registered foreign entity, the street and mailing address of the entity's principal office in the state or country under the laws of which it is incorporated;
The names of the entity's governors;
A brief description of the nature of the entity's business;
The entity's unified business identifier number;
In the case of a nonprofit corporation, the corporation's federal employer identification number; and
Information in an initial or annual report must be current as of the date the report is executed by the entity.
Annual reports must be delivered to the secretary of state on a date determined by the secretary of state and at such additional times as the entity elects.
If an initial or annual report does not contain the information required by this section, the secretary of state promptly shall notify the reporting entity in a record and return the report for correction.
If an initial or annual report contains the name or address of a registered agent that differs from the information shown in the records of the secretary of state immediately before the annual report becomes effective, the differing information in the initial or annual report is considered a statement of change under RCW 23.95.430.
The secretary of state shall send to each domestic entity and registered foreign entity, not less than thirty or more than ninety days prior to the expiration date of the entity's annual renewal, a notice that the entity's annual report must be filed as required by this chapter and that any applicable annual renewal fee must be paid, and stating that if the entity fails to file its annual report or pay the annual renewal fee it will be administratively dissolved. The notice may be sent by postal or email as elected by the entity, addressed to its registered agent within the state, or to an electronic address designated by the entity in a record retained by the secretary of state. Failure of the secretary of state to provide any such notice does not relieve a domestic entity or registered foreign entity from its obligations to file the annual report required by this chapter or to pay any applicable annual renewal fee. The option to receive the notice provided under this section by email may be selected only when the secretary of state makes the option available.
Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the secretary of state shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW setting:
Fees for:
Filing entity filings;
Furnishing copies or certified copies of any filed record under this chapter; and
Furnishing a certificate of existence or registration of an entity, or any other certificate;
License or renewal fees authorized under Title 23, 23B, 24, or 25 RCW;
Penalty fees; and
Other miscellaneous charges.
There is no fee for:
A registered agent's consent to act as agent or statement of resignation;
Filing articles of dissolution;
Filing certificates of judicial dissolution;
Filing statements of withdrawal; and
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Filing annual reports when submitted concurrently with the payment of annual license fees.
The secretary of state must collect the annual license fees established by rule. $50 of the annual license fees must be deposited in the state treasury and the remainder deposited in the secretary of state's revolving fund under RCW 43.07.130.
The withdrawal under RCW 23.95.215 of a filed record before it is effective or the correction of a filed record under RCW 23.95.220 does not entitle the person on whose behalf the record was filed to a refund of the filing fee.
The secretary of state shall establish the fee schedule authorized under this section in a manner that is consistent with the fee schedule applicable to the various entities that is in effect on January 1, 2016. The amounts of fees, charges, and penalties established under this section may be no greater than the amounts applicable to entity filings, penalties, and other charges in effect on January 1, 2016. Fees may be adjusted by rule only in an amount that does not exceed the average biennial increase in the cost of providing service. This must be determined in a biennial cost study performed by the secretary of state.
All fees collected by the secretary of state shall be deposited with the state treasurer pursuant to law or deposited in the secretary of state's revolving fund as provided in RCW 43.07.130.
A registered foreign entity shall promptly deliver to the secretary of state for filing an amendment to its foreign registration statement if there is a change in:
The name of the entity;
The type of entity, including, if it is a foreign limited partnership, whether the entity became or ceased to be a foreign limited liability limited partnership;
The entity's jurisdiction of formation;
An address required by RCW 23.95.510(1)(d); or
The information required by RCW 23.95.415(1).
If the name of the entity is changed, a copy of the name change document filed in the home jurisdiction is required to accompany the amendment to the entity's foreign registration statement.
Activities of a foreign entity that do not constitute doing business in this state under this chapter include, but are not limited to:
Maintaining, defending, mediating, arbitrating, or settling an action or proceeding, or settling claims or disputes;
Carrying on any activity concerning its internal affairs, including holding meetings of its interest holders or governors;
Maintaining accounts in financial institutions;
Maintaining offices or agencies for the transfer, exchange, and registration of securities of the entity or maintaining trustees or depositories with respect to those securities;
Selling through independent contractors;
Soliciting or obtaining orders by any means if the orders require acceptance outside this state before they become binding contracts and where the contracts do not involve any local performance other than delivery and installation;
Creating or acquiring indebtedness, mortgages, or security interests in property;
Securing or collecting debts or enforcing mortgages or security interests in property securing the debts;
Owning, without more, property;
Doing business in interstate commerce;
Operating an approved branch campus of a foreign degree-granting institution in compliance with chapter 28B.90 RCW and in accordance with subsection (2) of this section; and
Employing a remote worker who resides in Washington state.
In addition to those acts that are specified in subsection (1) of this section, a foreign degree-granting institution that establishes an approved branch campus in the state under chapter 28B.90 RCW shall not be deemed to transact business in the state solely because it:
Owns and controls an incorporated branch campus in this state;
Pays the expenses of tuition or room and board charged by the incorporated branch campus for its students enrolled at the branch campus or contributes to the capital thereof; or
Provides personnel who furnish assistance and counsel to its students while in the state but who have no authority to enter into any transactions for or on behalf of the foreign degree-granting institution.
A person does not do business in this state solely by being an interest holder or governor of a domestic entity or foreign entity that does business in this state.
This section does not apply in determining the contacts or activities that may subject a foreign entity to service of process, taxation, or regulation under law of this state other than this chapter.
The secretary of state may attest to the authenticity of the signature of a public official in the state of Washington.
The secretary of state may attest to the authenticity of, or certify a signature of, a notary public except as noted in subsection (3) of this section.
The secretary of state may not certify or attest to the signature of a notary public on :
A document regarding allegiance to a government or jurisdiction;
A document relating to the relinquishment or renunciation of citizenship, sovereignty, military status, or world service authority;
A document setting forth or implying for the bearer a claim of immunity from the laws of the jurisdictions of Washington, immunity from the laws of the state of Washington, or immunity from federal law; or
An individually created document that can or should be issued as a certified copy from a city, county, or state entity.
The secretary of state may adopt rules to implement this section.
There is created within the state treasury a revolving fund, to be known as the "secretary of state's revolving fund," which must be used by the office of the secretary of state to defray the costs of providing registration and information services authorized by law by the office of the secretary of state, and any other cost of carrying out the functions of the secretary of state under Title 11, 18, 19, 23, 23B, 24, 25, 26, 30A, 30B, 42, 43, or 64 RCW.
The secretary of state is authorized to charge a fee for publications in an amount which will compensate for the costs of printing, reprinting, and distributing such printed matter. Fees recovered by the secretary of state under RCW 43.07.120(2), 19.09.305, 19.09.315, 19.09.440, 23.95.260 (1) (a)(ii) and (iii) and (d) and (2)(e)(ii), or 46.64.040, and such other moneys as are expressly designated for deposit in the secretary of state's revolving fund must be placed in the secretary of state's revolving fund.
During the 2023-2025 fiscal biennium, the legislature may direct the treasurer to transfer money from the secretary of state's revolving fund to the state general fund.