Appeal No. 2005-0823
Application No. 10/300,895 Page 6
products, but rather, ARC identifies the entity receiving the
reporting. We agree.
Upon our review of the specification and claims, we find
from page 19 of the specification that ARC refers to the Airline
Reporting Corp. Although the examiner is correct that a
trademark is used to identify the source of goods, not the goods
themselves, the fact that the ARC corporation can change over
time does not make the claims indefinite. We find the examiner's
reliance on Ex Parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020, 1021 (footnote 2)
(Bd. App. 1982) to be misplaced, because this is not a situation
where the physical or other properties of a material are being
described by mere reference to a trademark, as in Simpson.
Moreover, as noted by appellant (reply brief, pages 3 and 4), ARC
is not a trademark, but rather is a service mark.
The issue before us is whether an artisan would have
understood, as of the time of the filing of the application, what
ARC stood for. Because the examiner does not dispute that an
artisan would have known that ARC referred to Airline Reporting
Corporation at the time of filing, we find the claims to be
definite within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph.
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