Trade Names

No licensee, including any licensee who practices in a partnership, association, professional corporation or other group practice, shall engage in the practice of optometry under a trade or assumed name until an application to use that name at a specific location or locations is approved by the board.

The following criteria for granting approval to practice under a trade name were approved at the May 9, 1992 meeting of the Kansas Board of Examiners in Optometry:

The name requested must be unique, at least in the sense that it is not in general use at the time.
Any reference to a geographic area should be reasonable and not misleading. As a general matter, the board feels use of a geographical area larger than a city would be unreasonable and misleading.
If the name of one or more licensees is contained in the Trade name, the designation O.D., optometrist, or doctor of optometry must accompany the Name of the licensee.
The trade name must not be so similar to names in use as to be misleading or confusing.
The trade name must not be false, misleading, or deceptive.

The foregoing guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive of the reasons for which a trade name application may be denied.

At the January 15, 2016 meeting of the Kansas Board of Examiners in Optometry, the additional guidelines were developed:

If a descriptive term is used, the trade name must be approved by the Board.
1. Examples of descriptive terms:
  1. Optometry
  2. Vision
  3. Vision Care
  4. Eyes
  5. Eyecare
  6. Eye Associates
  7. Eye Health
  8. The use of a geographical area,
  9. Etc.
If the trade name consists of only the doctor’s name(s) and title, such as O.D., Dr, or Optometrist, it is not a trade name and thus does not need to be approved by the Board.Examples include:
1. Dr A Jones, Optometrist
2. Drs A Jones and B Smith, Optometrists
To further clarify, Jones Optometry must be approved by the Board but not Dr A Jones, Optometrist.

Trade names are approved at quarterly board meetings held in January, April, June, and October. There are no exceptions to this calendar for approval.

Trade names that have not been in use for six months or more are no longer approved by the Board and must be resubmitted for approval.

Approved Trade Names(As of August 13, 2024)
Disapproved Trade Names (As of October 29, 2020)
Trade Name Application
Trade Name Transfer Form

Application forms for trade name approval can also be obtained from:

Jan Murray, Executive Officer
KS Board of Examiners in Optometry
3109 W. 6th Street, Suite A
Lawrence, Ks 66049
jan.murray@ks.gov

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