Thursday, July 26th, 2012

Jacksonville, FL – Adhering to our mission of public safety, the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM^®) would like to alert all stakeholders that certain entities are claiming to offer services via the internet for the preparation of the NCCAOM exams or assistance with the NCCAOM certification. Please be aware that the NCCAOM does not have any formal affiliation or agreement with any third-party certification assistance organizations or any organizations claiming affiliation with the NCCAOM.

The NCCAOM is aware that misleading and inaccurate information has been posted on certain websites claiming a special relationship or affiliation with the NCCAOM, including assistance with the certification process and assistance in studying and passing NCCAOM examinations. Please be aware that this information is fraudulent. The NCCAOM has ordered these institutions to remove the misleading and erroneous information from their websites and will be working diligently to take legal action against anyone claiming to offer these types of services. We encourage anyone who sees such claims on any institution’s website, please send the website link to NCCAOM.

In an effort to protect its intellectual property from this type of misuse, the NCCAOM has registered all of its trademarks to include the NCCAOM logo, acronym, service marks, tagline, and PDA logo with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) as well as in China, Korea and Canada. The NCCAOM has also registered all of its certification designations with the USPTO this year. Anyone using these trademarks without the sole permission of the NCCAOM will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The NCCAOM publishes via the NCCAOM website the NCCAOM Study Guide and Exam Content Outlines for all interested exam candidates in preparation for the NCCAOM examinations. In addition, the NCCAOM encourages anyone interested in certification assistance to contact NCCAOM directly. For additional information regarding this announcement, please contact Mina Larson, Deputy Director at (703) 314-2908 or via e-mail.