A. The exclusive right to the use of a corporate name may be reserved by:
(1) any person intending to organize a corporation under the Nonprofit Corporation Act;
(2) any domestic corporation intending to change its name;
(3) any foreign corporation intending to make application for a certificate of authority to conduct affairs in this state;
(4) any foreign corporation authorized to conduct affairs in this state and intending to change its name; or
(5) any person intending to organize a foreign corporation and intending to have such corporation make application for a certificate of authority to conduct affairs in this state.
B. The reservation shall be made by filing with the commission [secretary of state] an application to reserve a specified corporate name, executed by the applicant. If the commission [secretary of state] finds that the name is available for corporate use, it shall reserve the name for the exclusive use of the applicant for a period of one hundred twenty days.
C. The right to the exclusive use of a specified corporate name so reserved may be transferred to any other person or corporation by filing in the office of the commission [secretary of state] a notice of transfer, executed by the applicant for whom the name was reserved, and specifying the name and address of the transferee.