Jennette v. . Coppersmith

Hoke, J. Section 1, chapter 77, Laws 1913, in general terms, prohibits the conducting, carrying on,.or transacting a business in the State under an assumed name, etc., without filing a certificate with the clerk of the court in the county or counties where such business, etc., is to be carried on, showing the business name of the owner, etc., and in a subsequent section of the statute the forbidden act is made a misdemeanor. In Courtney v. Parker, 173 N. C., 479, it was held that, contracts made, etc., in the case of a business conducted in violation of the statute, could not be enforced in the courts. While' the court felt constrained to give this construction, on the ground, chiefly, that the act was a police regulation designed and intended to protect the general public from fraud and imposition, under such an interpretation the act is of such a highly penal character that it should not be extended or held to include cases that do not come clearly within its provision. A recognized meaning of the word “assume” gives the impress of an act calculated to mislead or baffle inquiry. In the Century Dictionary the sixth definition is given as follows: “To take fictitiously; pretend to possess, as to assume the garb of humility,” citing Hamlet’s injunction to the queen: “Assume a virtue if you have it not.” Act III, Scene 4. And the whole scope and purpose of the act shows.that the word was used in this sense. The term “company” is not an infrequent nor an inapt word to denote a partnership. Clark v. Jones & Bro., 87 Alabama, 474; 1 Words and Phrases (Second Series), 745. And the title of plaintiffs’ firm, Jennette Bros., Company, being a partnership conducted under that name and style, giving as it did the true surname of its members, affording a reasonable and sufficient guide to correct knowledge of the individuals composing the firm, should not be considered an “assumed” name, within the meaning and purpose of the law. We are of opinion that the cause has been properly decided, and the judgment for plaintiff is affirmed. , No error.