It’s official: IAHCSMM’s “Instrumental to Patient Care®” tagline – the one that IAHCSMM members and other central service materiel management professionals have come to know so well - has been granted the federal registration symbol by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The new symbol replaces the Service Mark (SM) designation that has followed the tagline throughout the year-long federal registration application process. Although for some, the tagline has already become synonymous with IAHCSMM, the federal trademark registration allows the Association to officially claim ownership of the tagline.

The “Instrumental to Patient Care®” tagline first debuted in 2005 with the IAHCSMM landmark video, "Today's CS Industry: Instrumental to Patient Care.” The saying quickly caught on and has since been used on numerous other IAHCSMM products, including marketing brochures and CS Awareness Week bracelets. The federal registration designation is just one more example of how IAHCSMM is promoting the important message and supporting the sterile processing profession.