A Database of American Typeface Design Patents (1842-1899)

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Fernando Díaz
Fernando Díaz Posts: 133
in Type History
Interesting!

http://www.fontdata.com/american-typeface-design-patents/

This is a visual online representation of the »Database of American Typeface Design Patents« database.
In the Nineteenth Century, many American typefounders sought to protect their type designs with US "design" patents. These patents are useful sources for researching American type designs, but they present a difficulty because they do not include the commercial name of the typeface as it was issued. The database published here links the basic patent information (number, date, etc.) with the typeface names. It was compiled by the late Jane W. Roberts and put into publishable form by Saxe, and published by Dr. David M. MacMillan over here
Additions made to the online version: Preview images/thumbnails have been cropped manually to show most of the original design where possible. Designer names have been normalized to allow filtering by designer. Bug submission or suggestion are welcome: lars.schwarz at fontdata.com.


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  • Alvaro Franca
    Alvaro Franca Posts: 22
    Great resource Fernando, thanks!
  • Stephen Coles
    Stephen Coles Posts: 1,023
    Thanks, @Lars Schwarz! I was just reading something from Saxe and saw mention of Roberts' list. Was hoping someone had databased this online. 
  • Dave Crossland
    Dave Crossland Posts: 1,488
    American design patents on type designs continue to be registered to this day. I wonder how interesting an expanded database would be that runs up to the present day? :)
  • Dan Reynolds
    Dan Reynolds Posts: 177
    This is really nice. Thank you for posting it!
  • Scott-Martin Kosofsky
    Scott-Martin Kosofsky Posts: 430

    Thank you, Fernando--very interesting, indeed. Is anyone here aware of legal challenges or cases involving any of these early patents?

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