McCahill Group, LLC

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Dec 17, 2008

No. 77032709 (T.T.A.B. Dec. 17, 2008)

Mailed:
December 17, 2008

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
________

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
________

In re McCahill Group, LLC.
________

Serial No. 77032709
_______

Kathleen A. Pasulka of Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch
LLP for McCahill Group, LLC.

Laurie R. Kaufman, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office
103 (Michael Hamilton, Managing Attorney).
_______

Before Walters, Holtzman and Zervas, Administrative
Trademark Judges.

Opinion by Zervas, Administrative Trademark Judge:
On October 30, 2006, McCahill Group, LLC filed an
application to register on the Principal Register the term
TROOP TRANSITION INTERNATIONAL (in standard character form)
as a trademark for the following services: “civilian
career recruiting and placement programs for military
personnel” in International Class 35; and “training
services for former military personnel in the field of
career training, certification and licensing, in all
THIS OPINION
IS NOT A PRECEDENT OF
THE T.T.A.B.
Serial No. 77032709
2
fields” in International Class 41.1 Applicant has
disclaimed the term INTERNATIONAL.
The examining attorney finally refused registration
under Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C.
§1052(e)(1), on the ground that, when used in connection
with applicant's services, the mark TROOP TRANSITION
INTERNATIONAL would be merely descriptive of such services.
When the refusal was made final, applicant filed an
appeal and requested reconsideration. The examining
attorney denied the request for reconsideration and the
appeal was resumed. Both applicant and the examining
attorney have filed briefs. We affirm the refusal to
register.
A term is deemed to be merely descriptive of goods or
services, within the meaning of Section 2(e)(1), if it
forthwith conveys an immediate idea of an ingredient,
quality, characteristic, feature, function, purpose or use
of the goods or services. In re Gyulay, 820 F.2d 1216, 3
USPQ2d 1009 (Fed. Cir. 1987); and In re Abcor Development
Corp., 588 F.2d 811, 200 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1978). A term need
not immediately convey an idea of each and every specific

1 Application Serial No. 77032709, based on applicant's assertion
of its bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce under
Trademark Act § 1(b), 15 U.S.C. § 1051(b).

Serial No. 77032709
3
feature of the applicant's goods or services in order to be
considered merely descriptive; it is enough that the term
describes one significant attribute, function or property
of the goods or services. In re H.U.D.D.L.E., 216 USPQ 358
(TTAB 1982); and In re MBAssociates, 180 USPQ 338 (TTAB
1973).
The record includes the following definitions of
“troop” and “troops” in the online version of The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed. 2001)
located at bartleby.com; “2a. A group of soldiers” b.
troops Military units; soldiers.”
Additionally, “transition” is defined in the same
dictionary (of record) as “passage from one form, state,
style, or place to another.” In the context of assistance
to military personnel separating from the military, the
record reflects the following uses of “transition”
consistent with the dictionary definition:
“Transition Assistance Program for Veterans (TAP)
website provides career information for active
duty service members, National Guard, Reserves,
and spouses of service members separating or
retiring from the military.”
www.hirevetsfirst.gov;

“Benefits of the Coming Home to Work Initiative …
Provides seamless career transition assistance to
OIF and OEF service members at Military Treatment
Facilities and veterans after military
separation.” www.vetsuccess.gov;

Serial No. 77032709
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“In South Florida, the Veterans’ Employment
Services of South Florida Workforce works in
coordination with the U.S. Southern Command in
Doral and the U.S. Naval Air Station in Key West
to provide tools and strategies to veterans who
are separating from the military and
transitioning into the civilian workforce.” (The
Miami Herald, February 24, 2008); and
“Look the person dead in the eye and tell them,
‘We’re going to watch out for your spouse and put
you back in your job, or one that’s a better fit,
when you come home,’ said Andrew Hollitt, team
leader for military recruiting at the Lucas
Group, a Dallas-based recruiting company that
specializes in military transition placement.”
(The Houston Chronicle, October 29, 2007).
Further, the record contains evidence demonstrating
use of (i) the phrase “troops transition,” or (ii) “troops”
in conjunction with “transition,” both in the context of
the separation of military personnel from the military:
“[T]he United States has a moral obligation to
help wounded troops transition to the next phase
of their lives.” (Financial Times Information,
October 10, 2007);

“A larger amount [of money] would be needed as
part of a ‘National Security Adjustment Act’ to
help those troops transition into civilian life.”
(Foreign Policy in Focus, July 5, 2007);

“Anne Robinson, a member of the Paralyzed
Veterans of America, said her group and leaders
of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System …
tried to think of ways to help wounded troops
transition into the community.” (San Antonio
Express Metro Edition, October 13, 2007);

“Some law enforcement agencies have begun to look
harder at how they help returning troops make the
transition back to police work.” (The Dallas
Morning News, January 6, 2008);

Serial No. 77032709
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“Senator Klobuchar has remained steadfast in her
support of Minnesota’s National Guard. She has
called for shorter tours of duty in Iraq and more
equitable benefits for deployed guard members,
requesting additional federal support for
Minnesota’s innovative Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
program that helps returning Guard troops with
the transition back to their families and local
communities.” (US Fed News, June 21, 2007); and

“Adams said that while he feels lucky for all
that he has received, he acknowledged that it has
been very difficult for many other wounded troops
to transition back into civilian life.” (The
Houston Chronicle, May 23, 2007).

These uses of “troops” in conjunction with
“transition,” as well as the definitions of record,
establish that the purchasing public of applicant's
services would immediately recognize, without imagination
or thought, that “troop transition” in the context of
applicant's training services and career recruiting and
placements programs, all for military personnel, refers to
the assistance applicant provides to members of the
military as they pass from the military to the civilian
workforce.2
The term INTERNATIONAL is also in applicant's mark.
INTERNATIONAL, which applicant has disclaimed, thereby
acknowledging its descriptive nature, merely indicates that

2 While most of the evidence shows use of the term TROOPS, the
difference between this plural term and applicant’s use of the
singular term, TROOP, is immaterial.

Serial No. 77032709
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applicant's services are international in scope. The Board
has found marks containing the term INTERNATIONAL merely
descriptive. See In re Billfish International Corp., 229
USPQ 152 (TTAB 1986) (BILLFISH INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
merely descriptive of corporation involved with billfish on
an international scale); and BankAmerica Corp. v.
International Travelers Cheque Co., 205 USPQ 1233 (TTAB
1979) (INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS CHEQUE merely descriptive of
financial consulting services that are international in
scope). See also TMEP § 1209.03(o).
Thus, when applicant's mark is considered as a whole,
we find that purchasers of applicant's services would
immediately recognize, without imagination or thought, that
applicant offers assistance to members of the military as
they pass from the military to the civilian workforce, and
that applicant's assistance is international in scope. The
combination of the three words in applicant's mark does not
create a unique or incongruous meaning. See In re Tower
Tech, Inc., 64 USPQ2d 1314 (TTAB 2002). Applicant, in
support of registration of its mark, has argued as follows:
TROOP TRANSITION as a whole does not offer any
real information about or describe the nature of
Applicant's services. TROOP TRANSITION may
suggest that military troops are making a change,
but again, this does not describe Applicant's
training services. The “TROOPS” are not taught
or being taught to “TRANSITION.” In fact, the
Serial No. 77032709
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“TROOPS” are not doing anything. Applicant's
services are personal in nature and are offered
to individuals interested in learning new skills.
They are not offered to a group – to “the
troops.”

Brief at p. 3. We are not persuaded by applicant's
argument. The evidence of record reflects that TROOP
TRANSITION is sufficiently informative of the nature of
applicant's services for a purchaser to understand the
nature of applicant's services. Also, the terms need not
be so specific as to communicate that applicant's services
are offered to individuals rather than to a group of
individuals who form a TROOP. Moreover, applicant, in its
identification or services, identifies a group to whom it
offers its services, i.e., “military personnel,” and this
group identifies targeted consumers of its services. The
term TROOP TRANSITION must be considered in the context of
applicant's International Class 41 training services. As
such, applicant’s services are clearly offered to
individuals who are transitioning from the military to a
civilian career.
Applicant also argues that TROOP indicates a group or
band, which may or may not be composed of military
personnel”; and that “[i]f Applicant were to use the term,
‘former military personnel,’ even that would not
necessarily be descriptive of Applicant's services because
Serial No. 77032709
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‘TROOP’ indicates a group and the additional word
‘TRANSITION’ indicates changes, not necessarily a career
change.” Id. However, we consider the question of
descriptiveness not in the abstract but in relation to the
services, the context in which the mark is used and its
overall impact on consumers. In re Abcor Dev. Corp., 588
F.2d 811, 200 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1878). In the context of
applicant's identified services containing the limitation
“military personnel,” TROOP unambiguously refers to
military personnel.
After careful consideration, we find that the
examining attorney has established prima facie that
applicant's mark, TROOP TRANSITION INTERNATIONAL, is merely
descriptive of the nature of applicant's services, which
has not been rebutted by applicant. Registration is
accordingly barred under Trademark Act § 2(e)(1).
Decision: The refusal to register is affirmed.