EP1316037A1 - Aggregation, delivery and use of branded typefonts - Google Patents

Description

AGGREGATION, DELIVERY AND USE OF BRANDED TYPEFONTS

This application contains subject matter protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Third party trademarks identified in this written description are the properties of the respective owners.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to advertising and promotional techniques for raising brand awareness using computers and online networks. More specifically, the invention enables computer users to better, manage the appearance of documents they create using easy to recall font sets named after highly recognizable branded images.

Description of the Related Art

Computers utilize what are described as fonts to display characters (primarily text and numbers) in software applications. Most personal computers that are available in the marketplace today contain a relatively small number of font sets that are included by the manufacturer of the computer's operating system or a third party software developer. The font set generally resides within a computer's operating system and typically is accessible by virtually all of the applications used on the computer. The fonts are used on the computer to provide the user with typeface choices for creating emails, letters, presentations, spreadsheets and other forms of written communication. A known digital font technology that is commonly used in personal computers is TrueType, designed by Apple Computer, and that is now used by both Apple and Microsoft in their operating systems.

In today's marketplace there are thousands of fonts, each representing unique typefaces. Fonts are generally developed by artisans who also are skilled in computer programming. These artisans select the name that the user will see in the selection of fonts. Some fonts are named after the inventor, some are given names meant to describe the font (with words like long, tall, mug, short, etc.) and many are named whatever their creator determines to be appropriate. Computer users, however, generally are not versed in the background of computer font development and, as a result, most users use just a few of the fonts residing on their computer. Even fewer users take the opportunity to download and install new or alternative fonts that are often available from online sources. Trademarks and service marks serve to identify and distinguish a company's products and services in the marketplace from the products and services of others. Businesses throughout the United States and the rest of the world spend enormous time and labor building brand awareness, which is often considered a company's most important corporate asset. Typical of these famous marks are the Coca-Cola® and Coors® brands. Trademarks typically come in many formats, and often a company's brand has a unique and instantly recognizable graphic appearance due to the font itself. Companies often go to great lengths, via strict trademark usage guidelines and contractual restrictions, to ensure that their brands are only used in a given font and in a certain way. By maintaining strict use standards, the company's brand is an easily remembered image of the company in the eyes of its customers, business partners, and the general public.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A device (which may be a computer, a computer peripheral, or the like) includes a font display mechanism that includes or is provided with a unique set of font files. Each font file includes information necessary to enable a font display rasterizer to render (i.e., display, print or otherwise output) a so-called "trade font" which, according to the invention, is a font that is associated with a given brand. Preferably, a trade font is associated with a given brand by having a character set that is identifiable from the brand itself, and by having a name identified with the company or product/service offered by the company. Each of the trade fonts is uniquely associated with a recognizable consumer brand through a common lettering style and, preferably, by name.

Trade fonts are provided in or downloaded to a computer, preferably in a TrueType or compatible format. Software applications that have font selection capability automatically display trade font names so that a given trade font may be selected by a user of the application. Upon selection of the trade font, the user generates a document (e.g., an email, a letter, etc. as the case may be). The trade font name may be augmented with a hypertext link to enable a user to link to a sponsoring company's web site. The trade font may also have associated therewith an audio file that outputs a given audio file (e.g., a company jingle) when a user takes a given action with respect to the file name. By using the trade font, a sponsoring company can increase its brand awareness both visually and aurally.

The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects and features of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference should be made to the following Detailed Description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a simplified illustration of a computer in which the present invention may be implemented; Figure 2 illustrates a computer operating system display font mechanism of the prior art;

Figure 3 illustrates a computer operating system display font mechanism that includes a set of trade fonts according to the present invention;

Figure 4 illustrates a GUI window illustrating font listboxes that display trade fonts according to the present invention;

Figure 5 is a simplified representation of a control program for use in the present invention;

Figure 6 illustrates an email that is generated using an AmericanAirlines® trade font according to the present invention; and Figure 7 illustrates a document that is generated using a word processor having the A-tnericanAirlii es® trade font selectable from a font listbox according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is operative in a standalone computer or a computer connected to a network such as the public Internet, an intranet, a virtual private network, or the like. Referring to Figure 1, a representative computer 100 has at least one processor 102, system memory (e.g., RAM) 104, disk or other permanent storage 106, an operating system 108 having an application programming interface 110, a graphical user interface 112, various input/output devices such as a display

114, a keyboard 116, a mouse 118, a printer 118, and the like, and a set of application programs 120 that provide desired functions. Illustrative applications 120 include a word processor, an email client, an electronic spreadsheet, a web browser, and the like. Of course, the above list is merely exemplary. Typically, the computer also includes a network communications interface (e.g., a modem card, an Ethernet network interface card, or the like) to connect the computer to a LAN, WAN, or other computer network. A representative computer is a personal computer, notebook computer, Internet appliance or pervasive computing device (e.g., a PDA or palm computer) that is Pentium-, PowerPC®- or RISC-based. The client includes an operating system such as Microsoft® Windows (all PC versions), Microsoft®

Windows CE, Apple® OS, Unix, Linux, ADC®, OS/2®, Windows NT, PalmOS or the like. The invention may also be implemented on a gaming device computer (e.g., Sony® Playstation®, or the like). Of course, the present invention is not limited to any particular computer configuration. Referring to Figure 2, an operating system 202 of a computer 200 in which the present invention is implemented typically includes a digital font mechanism 204. A conventional digital font mechanism 204 is TrueType, which consists of two components: the TrueType fonts 206 themselves, and a rasterizer 208. Each digital font 206 comprises a TrueType font file (typically having a .ttf extension in Windows) that includes information used by the rasterizer 208 and the operating system software 202 to ensure that characters display on the computer screen or print out exactly as intended by the font designer. The fonts come in many different styles and may be supplied with the operating system (or printer) or purchased from font developers either individually or in font collections. Typically, a font comprises all of the characters (alpha, numeric and relevant symbols) of a given type. The rasterizer 208 is a computer program that generates character bitmaps for display screens and printers (otherwise known as raster devices) in a known manner by reading an outline description of the character (lines and splines) from the TrueType font file, scaling the outline description of the character to a requested size and device resolution, adjusting the outline description to the pixel grid of the raster device, and filling the adjusted outline with pixels. Although the rasterizer 208 is shown as part of the operating system, it may be included in other devices, e.g., such as printer control software. The interaction between the fonts, the rasterizer, and the software program 210 (e.g., Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Outlook Express, etc.) which the font is used determines the appearance of the letterforms in the font. A digital font file contains the characters associated with a given alphabet or script, as well as additional information. Typically, this information is arranged in a series of tables and includes the shapes of each character, data about how the characters should be spaced vertically and horizontally within a block of text, character mapping details, and the like. Further technical information about the TrueType font file can be obtained from the TrueType Specification available from the Microsoft web site at the following URL, http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ tt/tt.htm, and which is incorporated herein by reference. Although fonts used in the present invention are preferably compliant with the TrueType specification, this is not a requirement. Other digital font types, such as OpenType, may be used as well. With reference now to Figure 3, according to the invention, a device

300 (which may be a computer, a computer peripheral, or the like) has a font display mechanism 302 that includes or is provided with an additional set of font files 304. Each font file 304 includes information necessary to enable the rasterizer 306 to render (i.e., display, print or otherwise output) a so-called "trade font" which, according to the invention, is a font that is associated with a given brand. Preferably, a trade font is associated with a given brand by having a character set that is identifiable from the brand itself, and by having a name identified with the company or product/service offered by the company. Thus, for example, a Coors® trade font would include the stylized characters that comprise the Coors® brand (i.e., the "C", "o", "r" and "s") together with the remaining letters (preferably capitalized and lower case), numbers and symbols that make up a conventional font set. The font would be identified as the Coors trade font. In like manner, the AmericanAirlines® trade font would include a set a characters in the recognizable lettering style of this brand, and the trade font would be identified as the AmericanAirlines trade font. The following illustrates the AmericanAirlines trade font: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUNWXYZ

Abcdefghfjklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789

' !@#$%^Λ&*()_-=+[] {} "';:/><\|*. As is well known, this particular mark sometimes uses blue and red to further emphasize the brand; thus, the trade font may also include information that associates given word pairs (or even letter pairs) in the distinctive blue-red format commonly used in the AmericanAirlines brand. In like manner, each of the trade fonts 304 is uniquely associated with a recognizable consumer brand through a common lettering style, color or color combination, and, preferably, by name. According to the invention, trade fonts are included with the digital font mechanism in the device in any convenient fashion. Thus, for example, for original equipment manufacture, the trade fonts may be included with other TrueType fonts conventional loaded in the digital font mechanism of an operating system. The trade fonts may be downloaded and stored in a computer operating system (or printer control routine) by a computer user accessing a given server (e.g., a web site) and downloading font files to the user's local machine. Thus, in one particularly preferred embodiment, a set of trade files are aggregated and hosted on a server. Each of the trade fonts is identifiable by name (typically, the brand) and is accessible to computer users via a computer network such as the Internet. The operator of the server (e.g., an application service provider or ASP) may charge a fee for access to the trade fonts. Trade fonts may be stored on a computer-readable medium (e.g., a CD-ROM, optical disk, floppy disk, flash memory, or the like) and installed in a computer or other device on an as-needed basis. Trade fonts also may be delivered to a machine capable of displaying such fonts via email or other document attachments. Of course, any other convenient technique may be used. According to a preferred embodiment, a set of one or more trade fonts are aggregated and made available to a computer or other device. Once delivered to or resident within a device capable of displaying the fonts using local resources (e.g., a display font mechanism or equivalent), the trade fonts are identified and used in a conventional manner. Thus, with reference to Figure 4, a representative email client application is shown. As is well known, when a user desires to write a new email, a new message window 400 is opened. This window includes a font listbox 402 from which the user can select a given font. With the trade fonts loaded into the computer, expansion of the listbox identifies a scrollable list of fonts, and this list includes the one or more trade fonts of the present invention. The user may then select the trade font of interest, which will then be used for (i.e., applied to) the letterforms, numbers and symbols of the email text. Alternatively, the user can select to open a Font characteristic window 404 and select the desired trade font from the displayed listbox 406. As noted above, preferably the trade font is identified in the listbox by the brand name itself, which provides additional brand exposure. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the font display mechanism includes a computer program to augment the trade fonts. A representative computer program is illustrated in Figure 5. The computer program 500 comprises program instructions (namely, software) executable by a processor for carrying out one or more of a set of user-selectable functions. These functions are identified in Figure 5 as a linking function 502, an audio output function 504, a logo output function 506, an animation function 508, a video display function 510, a font substitution function 512, and the like. The linking function 502 creates a hypertext link for the trade font name in the font display listbox (or elsewhere). The code that implements this function is responsive to selection of the link for initiating the opening of a client browser to a Company web site. The audio output function 504 comprises code responsive to the user taking a given action with respect to the trade font name in the listbox (or elsewhere). When the user performs a given action with respect to the name (e.g., a mouseover), a given audio output is generated. Thus, a given Company brand may have a well-known audio jingle or motif (e.g., the NBC chime) associated therewith. According to the invention, these sounds may be digitized and stored in the computer (e.g., as a .wav file) and output by the audio output function 504 whenever the user performs a mouseover (or other given function) on the font name. Alternatively, the audio file may be output by the audio output function when the trade font is selected for use in the application. The logo output function 506 generates a display of a given logo associated with or comprising the brand in the font listbox (or elsewhere). The animation function 508 preferably generates an animating output on the display screen when the user takes a given action with respect to the trade font (e.g,. selecting the font for usage) This output may comprise a QuickTime movie (a .mov file) advertising or otherwise promoting the Company sponsoring the trade font. In like manner, the video display function 510 may output a video file (either statically or via live streaming using a browser plug-in such as RealPlayer) when the user takes a given action relative to the trade font. The particular action that triggers the particular audio, animation or video tie-in may be predetermined or user-selectable, in the latter case using a display dialog. Finally, the font substitution function 512 provides a dialog to a user (e.g., when the trade fonts are installed) to enable the user to identify one or more conventional fonts (e.g., Times Roman, Arial, or the like) that will be omitted from the font listbox and replaced with a given trade font. As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, these operations provide a further tie-in to the sponsoring company, i.e., the company identified with the trade font. Figures 6-7 illustrates the use of the AmericanAirlines® trade font for an email message and a word processing document, respectively. As can be seen, the letterforms and other characters of the respective documents conform to the AmericanAirlines® brand, and this creates a strong and lasting visual imprinting of the brand when the document is read. By authorizing its name and trade dress to be used in this manner, a company can raise the visibility of its brand in a completely new type of communication medium. Companies who make their brands available for use in this manner (e.g., via licensing their marks in connection with computer- generated fonts) can build extensive brand loyalty, especially during two-way customer communications directly to-and-from a user's desktop. As a consequence, companies will have a significant interest in using trade fonts in company communications to further emphasize their brand identity.

Thus, according to the present invention, a set of trade fonts are generated, aggregated, and made available for use on a computer. The trade font is a digital font file that contains the characters (letters, numbers, symbols) associated with a given Company brand, as well as additional information about the shapes of each character, data about how the characters should be spaced vertically and horizontally within a block of text, character mapping details, and the like. The trade font typically has a name that is identical to a variant of the Company brand that defines the trade font. A trade font is created by identifying a particular consumer brand of interest, generating a set of characters for the font (if necessary) based on the characters in the consumer brand, and associating a brand name with the trade font. When the trade font is identified in a font listbox in a given application, the trade font name is used, optionally with a logo associated therewith. If desired, selection and/or use of the trade font may generate an associated action such as linking to a web site, playing a sound file, running an animation or movie, or the like. One or ordinary skill will appreciate that the present invention provides a novel document generation and display method and mechanism. As used herein, a "document" may be any electronic file, usually a text file, created with any software application that uses digital fonts.

As noted above, the inventive mechanism is preferably implemented in a set of digital font files and associated computer software. Generalizing, the above- described functionality is implemented in software executable in a processor, namely, as a set of instructions (program code) in a code module resident in the random access memory of the computer. Until required by the computer, the set of instructions may be stored in another computer memory, for example, in a hard disk drive, or in a removable memory such as an optical disk (for eventual use in a CD ROM) or floppy disk (for eventual use in a floppy disk drive), or downloaded via the Internet or other computer network.

In addition, although the various methods described are conveniently implemented in a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by software, one of ordinary skill in the art would also recognize that such methods may be carried out in hardware, in firmware, or in more specialized apparatus constructed to perform the required method steps.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of increasing brand awareness in an environment in which users of computers access information over a computer network, comprising: aggregating a set of one or more digital font files each of which contain characters associated with a given identifiable brand; identifying each digital font file with a name corresponding to the brand; and providing users with access to the set of digital font files.

2. The method as described in Claim 1 further including the step of delivering the set of digital font files to a computer over the computer network.

3. The method as described in Claim 2 wherein the computer network is the Internet.

4. The method as described in Claim 2 further including the step of charging a given fee for access to the set of digital font files.

5. A method operative in a data processing system, comprising: storing a set of digital font files in the data processing system, each of the digital font files containing characters associated with an identifiable brand and being identified by the brand; and upon selection of a given one of digital font files, applying the selected digital font file to a document.

6. The method as described in Claim 5 wherein a given digital font file has associated therewith an audio file.

7. The method as described in Claim 6 further including the step of outputting the audio file in response to a user taking a given action.

8. The method as described in Claim 5 wherein a given digital font file has associated therewith an animation file.

9. The method as described in Claim 8 further including the step of outputting the animation file in response to a user taking a given action.

10. The method as described in Claim 5 wherein a given digital font file has associated therewith a video file.

11. The method as described in Claim 10 further including the step of outputting the video file in response to a user taking a given action.

12. The method as described in Claim 5 wherein a given digital font file has associated therewith a hypertext link to a web site identified by the brand.

13. In a computer having a font display mechanism, the improvement comprising: at least one digital font file comprising characters associated with an identifiable brand and being identified by the brand; and a computer program responsive to selection of the digital font file for executing a given action.

14. In the computer as described in Claim 13, wherein the given action opens a web browser to a web site associated with the brand.

15. In the computer as described in Claim 13, wherein the given action outputs an audio file associated with the brand.

16. In the computer as described in Claim 13, wherein the given action outputs a video file associated with the brand.

17. In the computer as described in Claim 13, wherein the given action outputs an animation associated with the brand.

18. In the computer as described in Claim 13 wherein the digital font file includes a graphic device associated with the brand.

19. In the computer as described in Claim 13 wherein the computer program include code for generating a dialog for use in substituting the digital font file for one or more other digital font files.

20. An apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a digital font mechanism, comprising: a set of digital font files, wherein at least one of the digital font files is a trade font; and a rasterizer for generating character bitmaps of the characters in the digital font files.

21. A digital font file, comprising: characters associated with an identifiable consumer brand; and information identifying a shape of each character, how the characters should be spaced vertically and horizontally within a block of text, and character mapping details.

22. The digital font file as described in Claim 21 wherein the file is TrueType-compliant.

23. A document, generated by a method comprising: selecting a given application for generating the document; selecting a trade font for application to the document; and applying the trade font to the document. ^•