Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to symbol messages. More particularly, the invention relates to messages using symbols of increased visibility, familiarity and interest, and methods and apparatuses for creating such symbol messages.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Organizations and individuals generally value symbols, such as trademarks and service marks, associated with themselves and their goods and services. Entities are often eager to increase the visibility and familiarity of their symbols to consumers and often spend millions of dollars to this end. For example, companies spend tens of millions of dollars simply to associate their name or emblem with a professional sports stadium, a college football bowl game, or a particular message or slogan. Methods and apparatuses for creating symbol messages—particularly messages using symbols for which efforts have been, are being, or will be made to increase their visibility, familiarity, and interest—are desirable.  
           [0003]    Some entities control businesses, properties, events, apparel, and other outlets useful for increasing the visibility and familiarity of symbols to consumers. For example, cities have roadside welcome signs; event organizers produce and sponsor events; and clothiers have t-shirts and other apparel. Symbol messages associated with or displayed in such outlets are a useful means for increasing the visibility and familiarity of the respective symbols. Such symbol messages also are useful for branding the corresponding outlets, branding an entity in connection with that outlet, and branding an entity as part of a symbol message. Methods and apparatuses for generating such symbol messages are desirable.  
           [0004]    It is also recognized that many consumers like puzzles. Every year, consumers purchase many millions of dollars worth of puzzle-related games, books, and other products. Accordingly, there is an opportunity to capitalize on the consumer interest in puzzles and the interest of companies and individuals in increased visibility and familiarity for their symbols.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The following features are present in some, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the present invention.  
           [0006]    A feature of the present invention is to provide a method for generating a symbol alphabet in which each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a recognized proprietary symbol likely to be associated with the respective letter. Such symbol alphabets may then be used to form a symbol lexicon. FIG. 1A depicts an example of an alphabet of the present invention. FIG. 1A depicts an alphabet  101  and a corresponding symbol alphabet  102 . In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1A, each symbol in symbol alphabet  102  is a corporate logo or trademark. The owner of each registered trademark is identified in the Brief Description of the Drawings. FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C depict messages generated using the logo alphabet, or Logobet™, created in accordance with the present invention.  
           [0007]    Another feature of the present invention is to provide a method for generating a symbol message corresponding to a city name, in which each letter (or group of letters) in the name is replaced by a recognized proprietary symbol likely to be associated with the respective letter (or group of letters). FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B depict an example of a display of the present invention. FIG. 2A depicts a t-shirt bearing the message  201  “I LOVE MEMPHIS.” FIG. 2B depicts a t-shirt bearing a display including a symbol message  202  corresponding to the message  201 . In the symbol message  202 , the words “I” and “MEMPHIS” are replaced by corresponding symbol words  203  and  204  comprising well-known registered trademarks. The owner of each registered trademark is identified in the Brief Description of the Drawings.  
           [0008]    More broadly, a feature of the invention is to provide a method for generating a symbol message.  
           [0009]    Another feature of the invention is to provide a method for generating a symbol message using symbols for which efforts have been, are being, or will be made to increase their visibility and familiarity. Such symbols may include trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, registered service marks, and other well-known symbols.  
           [0010]    A further feature of the invention is to provide a method for generating a symbol message from a selected message.  
           [0011]    A feature of the invention is to provide a method for generating a symbol message from selected characters.  
           [0012]    Another feature of the present invention is to provide a method for generating a symbol message from a selected core set of message characters.  
           [0013]    A further feature of the invention is to provide a method for generating a grammar comprising symbols.  
           [0014]    A feature of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that implements any or all of the methods of the present invention.  
           [0015]    A feature of the invention is to provide an apparatus for generating a symbol message using symbols for which efforts have been, are being, or will be made to increase their visibility and familiarity. Such symbols may include trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, registered service marks and other well-known marks.  
           [0016]    A feature of the present invention is to provide a display through the implementation of any or all of the methods of the present invention.  
           [0017]    A further feature of the present invention is to provide a display using symbols for which efforts have been, are being, or will be made to increase their visibility and familiarity.  
           [0018]    An embodiment of a method of the present invention includes (i) dividing a message into at least one message subset (and optionally at least two message subsets), (ii) associating a symbol with each message subset, and (iii) replacing each message subset with the associated symbol.  
           [0019]    An alternative embodiment of a method of the present invention includes (i) dividing a plurality of characters into at least one character subset (and optionally at least two character subsets), (ii) associating a symbol with at least one of the character subsets, and (iii) generating a message comprising the associated symbol.  
           [0020]    An alternative embodiment of a method of the present invention includes (i) dividing a core set of message characters into at least one message subset (and optionally at least two message subsets), (ii) displaying each message subset, (iii) associating each message subset with at least one target symbol, (iv) selecting one associated target symbol for each message subset, (v) replacing each message subset with the selected target symbol, and (vi) displaying each selected target symbol.  
           [0021]    An alternative embodiment of a method of the present invention includes (i) generating at least one character subset from a set of characters, (ii) generating a set of symbols, (iii) generating, for each character subset, an association with a symbol subset, and (iv) generating a lexicon comprising each association.  
           [0022]    An embodiment of an apparatus of the present invention includes (i) an input device configured to receive a message, (ii) a visual display, (iii) a memory device configured to receive and store information, and (iv) a microprocessor in communication with the memory device, the input device, and the visual display. The apparatus is configured to implement, and to permit a user to implement, any or all of the methods of the present invention.  
           [0023]    An embodiment of a design or a display of the present invention includes a plurality of symbols corresponding to selected portions of a message.  
           [0024]    An embodiment of a design or a display of the present invention includes a plurality of symbols corresponding to selected characters.  
           [0025]    Another embodiment of a design or a display of the present invention includes a plurality of symbols corresponding to a selected core set of message characters.  
           [0026]    In embodiments of the present invention, the symbols are trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, registered service marks, well-known marks, or other proprietary symbols.  
           [0027]    Additional objects and advantages of the invention are set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part are apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may also be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly set out in the appended claims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0028]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 1A is an example of a lexicon—using a symbol alphabet—generated according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3. FIG. 1A depicts the following registered trademarks: a registered trademark symbol  102 ( a ) associated with and owned by American Telephone and Telegraph Co., 550 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( b ) associated with and owned by BellSouth Intellectual Property Corp., 824 Market Street, Suite 510, Wilmington, Del. 19801; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( c ) associated with and owned by Coca-Cola Co., One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta, Ga. 30313; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( d ) associated with and owned by Delta Air Lines, Inc., Atlanta Airport, Atlanta, Ga.; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( e ) associated with and owned by Estee Lauder, Inc., 747 5th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( f ) associated with Foot Locker and owned by Venator Group Retail, Inc., 112 West 34th Street, New York, N.Y. 10120; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( g ) associated with and owned by General Electric Corp., One River Road, Schenectady, N.Y. 12345; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( h ) associated with and owned by Hilton Hotels Corp., 9336 Civic Center Dr., Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( i ) associated with Infiniti and owned by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., No.2 Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( j ) associated with and owned by J. P. Morgan Chase &amp; Co., 270 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( k ) associated with Kmart and owned by S. S. Kresge Co., 2727 2nd Avenue, Detroit, Mich. 48232; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( l ) associated with and owned by Lucent Technologies Inc., 600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, N.J. 07974; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( m ) associated with and owned by McDonald&#39;s Corp., One McDonald&#39;s Plaza, Oak Brook, Ill. 60523; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( n ) associated with and owned by Nike, Inc., One Bowerman Drive, Beaverton, Oreg. 97005; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( o ) associated with Oldsmobile and owned by General Motors Corp., 300 Renaissance Center, P.O. Box 300, Detroit, Mich. 48265; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( p ) associated with and owned by Pepsico, Inc., 700 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, N.Y. 10577; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( q ) associated with and owned by Qwest Communications International Inc., 555 Seventeenth Street, Suite 1000, Denver, Colo. 80202; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( r ) associated with and owned by Reebok International Limited, Moor Lane Mill, Moor Lane, Lancaster LA1 1GF, ENGLAND; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( s ) associated with and owned by Safeway Stores, Inc., Fourth and Jackson Streets, Oakland, Calif. 94660; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( t ) associated with and owned by Target Brands, Inc., 1000 Nicollett Ave., TPS 1365, Minneapolis, Minn. 55403; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( u ) associated with and owned by United Air Lines, Inc., P.O. Box 66100, Chicago, Ill. 60666; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( v ) associated with and owned by Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Co., Wolfsburg, Fed. Rep. Germany; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( w ) associated with and owned by Whirlpool Properties, Inc., 500 Renaissance Drive, Suite 101, St. Joseph, Mich. 49022; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( x ) associated with and owned by Xerox Corp., 800 Long Ridge Road, Stamford, Conn. 06904; a registered trademark symbol  102 ( y ) associated with and owned by National Yellow Pages Service Agency, Inc., 10700 Meridian Avenue North, Suite 201, Seattle, Wash. 98133; and a registered trademark symbol  102 ( z ) associated with and owned by Zenith Electronics Corp., 1000 Milwaukee Avenue, Glenview, Ill. 60025.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 1B is an example of a symbol message created by using the lexicon depicted in FIG. 1A. The symbol message depicted in FIG. 1B comprises registered trademark symbols  102 ( a ), ( e ), ( f ), ( g ), ( i ), ( l ), ( n ), ( o ), ( r ), ( s ), and ( v ) of FIG. 1A.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 1C is another example of a symbol message created by using the lexicon depicted in FIG. 1A. The symbol message depicted in FIG. 1C comprises registered trademark symbols  102 ( a ), ( b ), ( d ), ( h ), ( i ), ( p ), ( r ), ( t ), and ( y ) of FIG. 1A.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, respectively, depict an example of a t-shirt bearing a selected message and a t-shirt bearing an embodiment of a display of the present invention corresponding to the selected message. Symbol message  202  in FIG. 2B comprises the following registered trademarks: a registered trademark symbol  203  and  210  associated with Infiniti and owned by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., No.2 Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan; a registered trademark symbol  205  and  207  associated with and owned by Motorola, Inc., 1303 East Algonquin Road, Schaumburg, Ill. 60196; a registered trademark symbol  206  associated with and owned by Estee Lauder, Inc., 747 5th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019; a registered trademark symbol  208  associated with and owned by associated with and owned by Pepsico, Inc., 700 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, N.Y. 10577; a registered trademark symbol  209  associated with and owned by Hilton Hotels Corp., 9336 Civic Center Dr., Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210, and a registered trademark symbol  211  associated with and owned by Sprint Communications Co., 6480 Sprint Parkway, Overland Park, Kans. 66251.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting an embodiment of the present invention in which a lexicon of associations is generated between certain character subsets and certain symbol subsets.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting an embodiment of the present invention in which a message is divided into at least one message subset.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 5 is an example of a symbol message generated according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 4. FIG. 5. depicts a registered trademark symbol  505  associated with and owned by Chick-Fil-A, Inc., 535 Central Avenue, Suite 102, Hapeville, Ga. 30054, and a registered trademark symbol  506  associated with and owned by Apple Computer, Inc., 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, Calif. 95014. These registered trademark symbols also appear in symbol message  508 .  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting another embodiment of the present invention in which a plurality of characters is divided into at least one character subset.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 7 is an example of a symbol message generated according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 depicts the following registered trademarks: a registered trademark symbol  709  associated with and owned by Nike, Inc., One Bowerman Drive, Beaverton, Oreg. 97005; a registered trademark symbol  710  associated with and owned by Estee Lauder, Inc., 747 5th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019; a registered trademark symbol  711  associated with and owned by Weyerhaeuser Co., Tacoma, Wash., 98477; a registered trademark symbol  712  associated with and owned by National Yellow Pages Service Agency, Inc., 10700 Meridian Avenue North, Suite 201, Seattle, Wash. 98133; a registered trademark symbol  713  associated with Oldsmobile and owned by General Motors Corp., 300 Renaissance Center, P.O. Box 300, Detroit, Mich. 48265; a registered trademark symbol  714  associated with and owned by Reebok International Limited, Moor Lane Mill, Moor Lane, Lancaster LA1 1GF, ENGLAND; and a registered trademark symbol  715  associated with Kmart and owned by S. S. Kresge Co., 2727 2nd Avenue, Detroit, Mich. 48232. These registered trademark symbols also appear in symbol message  716 .  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 8 is a flow chart depicting yet another embodiment of the present invention in which a core set of message characters is divided into at least one message subset.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 9 is an example of a symbol message generated according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 depicts the following registered trademarks: a registered trademark symbol  910  and  914  associated with and owned by Mercedes-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, 136 Mercedes Strasse, 7000 Stuttgart 60 (Unterturkheim), Fed. Rep. Germany; a registered trademark symbol  911  and  915  associated with and owned by McDonald&#39;s Corp., One McDonald&#39;s Plaza, Oak Brook, Ill. 60523; a registered trademark symbol  912  and  916  associated with and owned by Motorola, Inc., 1303 East Algonquin Road, Schaumburg, Ill. 60196; a registered trademark symbol  913  associated with and owned by Estee Lauder, Inc., 747 5th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019; a registered trademark symbol  917  associated with and owned by Pepsico, Inc., 700 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, N.Y. 10577; a registered trademark symbol  918  associated with and owned by Hilton Hotels Corp., 9336 Civic Center Dr., Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210; a registered trademark symbol  919  associated with Infiniti and owned by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., No.2 Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan; and a registered trademark symbol  920  associated with and owned by Sprint Communications Co., 6480 Sprint Parkway, Overland Park, Kans. 66251. These registered trademark symbols, with the exception of registered trademark symbol  910  and  914  associated with and owned by Mercedes-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, also appear in symbol message  924 .  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 10 is a diagram depicting embodiments of an apparatus for generating symbol messages, grammars or lexicons according to the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0041]    Visual messages generally are composed of one or more characters or symbols. The characters or symbols may include alphanumeric characters, phonemes, ideographs, pictographs, hieroglyphs, and other forms of visual communication.  
         [0042]    The present invention generates visual messages using symbols or symbol alphabets. In some embodiments, the symbols are trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, registered service marks, well-known marks or symbols, logos or other proprietary symbols. As used in this specification, a well-known mark or symbol is one whose meaning or association is understood or recognized by a segment of the public. A well-known mark includes, but is not limited to, famous trademarks that may be protected under anti-dilution laws. For purposes of this specification, a well-known mark or symbol includes, as another example, marks or symbols that have acquired secondary meaning in a geographic area.  
         [0043]    The symbol messages or symbol alphabets according to the present invention—when comprising logos or other similar well-known marks or symbols—are useful for, among other things, increasing the visibility and familiarity of the incorporated symbols. They also are useful for branding the corresponding outlets, branding an entity in connection with that outlet, and branding an entity as part of a symbol message. Such symbol messages or symbol alphabets may be displayed on or in, for example, billboards, print or electronic media, clothing, accessories, or novelty items.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 3 comprises four steps for generating a grammar comprising symbols:  
         [0045]    Generate At Least One Character Subset From A Set Of Characters step  301 ;  
         [0046]    Generate A Set of Symbols step  302 ;  
         [0047]    Generate Associations Between Each Character Subset And A Symbol Subset Of The Set Of Symbols step  303 ; and  
         [0048]    Generate A Lexicon Comprising The Associations step  304 .  
         [0049]    Steps  301  and  302 , respectively, comprise generating at least one character subset from a set of characters and generating a set of symbols. The set of characters comprises characters from existing grammars. For example, the set of characters might be the English alphabet and related phonemes, Egyptian hieroglyphs, or Arabic numerals. The set of symbols might be all trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, registered service marks, or well-known marks.  
         [0050]    Step  303  of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3 involves generating associations between each character subset and symbol subsets of the set of symbols. The associations preferably are made according to existing relationships—such as visual similarities, phonetic similarities, common initial sounds or characters, or common target audience associations—between the characters and the symbols as described in this specification or as is apparent in view of this specification to one of skill in the art. For example, a character subset may comprise letters from the English alphabet, and symbol subsets may comprise professional sports team emblems. Each team emblem may be associated with the letter corresponding to the first letter of the team name.  
         [0051]    In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, step  304  follows step  303 . Step  304  comprises generating a lexicon using the associations generated in step  303 . For example, words and phrases may be generated by replacing each letter with the symbol associated with that letter.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 1A depicts an example of a lexicon of the present invention, which lexicon was created using the embodiment of FIG. 3. FIG. 1A shows a set of characters  101  and a set of symbols  102  that have been generated. In this example, the character subset comprises the set of characters of the English alphabet, and the symbol associated with each character is a registered trademark. The associations between the two subsets are shown by designations ( a ) through ( z ). In this embodiment, these associations generate a symbol alphabet, which are used to generate a lexicon. For example, FIG. 1B shows a symbol message corresponding to the slogan “VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS”®, and FIG. 1C shows a symbol message corresponding to the phrase “HAPPY BIRTHDAY.” In other embodiments (not depicted), the characters may include words, phonemes, ideographs or other visual marks or depictions; the symbols may include service marks or other well-known symbols, marks or depictions; and there may be more than one symbol associated with one or more of the character subsets.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of the present invention. This embodiment comprises three steps for generating a symbol message from a selected message:  
         [0054]    Divide The Message Into At Least One Message Subset step  401 ;  
         [0055]    Associate A Symbol With Each Message Subset step  402 ; and  
         [0056]    Replace Each Message Subset With The Associated Symbol step  403 .  
         [0057]    Step  401  comprises dividing a selected message into one or more message subsets. A message subset may comprise the entire message or some smaller portion of the message (for example, a syllable). If more than one message subset is formed, the message subsets may be the same or different in size. For example, if the message is a word, certain message subsets may include a syllable, and other message subsets may include only a letter.  
         [0058]    Step  402  of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 4 comprises associating a symbol with each message subset. In other words, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 4, each message subset is assigned a symbol. The symbols preferably are trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, registered service marks, well-known marks, or other proprietary symbols. These symbols optionally are associated with message subsets based on existing or apparent relationships or associations—such as visual similarities, phonetic similarities, common initial characters or sounds, or common target audience associations—between each message subset and each corresponding symbol. For example, if the message is a word and if the word is divided into its letters in step  401 , each letter may be assigned a symbol that the target audience associates with a company name beginning with the same letter. Moreover, the same symbol preferably is associated with each message subset having the same value. Thus, in some embodiments, the same letters in a word may be assigned the same symbols.  
         [0059]    Step  402  may be implemented before or after step  401 . For example, one may first associate symbols with a variety of possible message subsets for a variety of possible messages and then divide the selected message into message subsets that have already been associated with symbols. Alternatively, one may select a message, divide that message into message subsets, and then associate symbols with those message subsets.  
         [0060]    Step  403  of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 4 comprises replacing each message subset with the associated symbol. Step  403  follows steps  401  and  402  and converts the selected message to a corresponding symbol message by replacing part or all of the message with symbols.  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 5 depicts an example of the embodiment of the present invention depicted in FIG. 4. In this example, the message  501  is the word “CHICAGO.” This message is divided into three message subsets  502 ,  503 , and  504 : “CHIC,” “A,” and “GO.” According to step  502  depicted in FIG. 4, each message subset is then associated with a respective symbol  505 ,  506  and  507 . “CHIC”  502  is associated with a registered trademark symbol  505  associated with Chick-Fil-A, Inc. “A”  503  is associated with a registered trademark symbol  506  associated with Apple Computer, Inc. “GO”  504  is associated with a stoplight symbol  507  with the green light turned on. Then each message subset  502 ,  503 , and  504  is replaced with its respective associated symbol  505 ,  506  and  507 , thus yielding the final symbol message  508 .  
         [0062]    [0062]FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart of another embodiment of a method of the present invention. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 comprises three steps for generating a symbol message from a selected plurality of characters:  
         [0063]    Divide A Plurality of Characters Into At Least One Character Subset step  601 ;  
         [0064]    Associate A Symbol With Each Of The Character Subsets step  602 ; and  
         [0065]    Generate A Message Comprising Each Associated Symbol step  603 .  
         [0066]    Step  601  comprises dividing a plurality of characters into one or more character subsets. Each character subset may be one or more alphanumeric characters, phonemes, words, ideographs, or any other visual mark or symbol. For example, a plurality of characters could be a name, and that name could be divided into character subsets, with some subsets including a letter and other subsets including a phoneme. As another example, the plurality of characters could be an abbreviation.  
         [0067]    Step  602  of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 comprises associating a symbol with each of the character subsets. For example, each letter in a name may be assigned one or more symbols which a target audience might associate with that letter. In another example, each ideograph in a Chinese text (the plurality of characters) could be associated with a registered trademark with visual similarity to the ideograph. In step  602 , symbols may be associated with character subsets based on existing or apparent relationships or associations—such as visual similarities, phonetic similarities, common initial characters or sounds, or common target audience associations—between each character subset and each corresponding symbol.  
         [0068]    Step  602  may be implemented before or after step  601 . For example, one may first assign symbols to a range of potential character subsets. One may then divide the selected plurality of characters into character subsets to which symbols already have been assigned. Alternatively one may select a plurality of characters, then divide it into character subsets, and then assign symbols to the character subsets.  
         [0069]    Step  603  of the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 comprises generating a message comprising the symbols associated with each of the character subsets. Step  603  follows steps  601  and  602  and converts the plurality of characters into a corresponding symbol message. The associated symbols are substituted for the corresponding character subsets, thus yielding a symbol message.  
         [0070]    [0070]FIG. 7 depicts an example of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6. In the example depicted in FIG. 7, the plurality of characters  701  is “NEW YORK.” The plurality of characters  701  is divided into seven character subsets  702 ,  703 ,  704 ,  705 ,  706 ,  707 , and  708 : “N,” “E,” “W,” “Y,” “O,” “R,” and “K,” respectively. Each character subset  702 ,  703 ,  704 ,  705 ,  706 ,  707  and  708  is associated with a respective symbol  709 ,  710 ,  711 ,  712 ,  713 ,  714  and  715 . In this example, each of the symbols are registered trademarks, and the character subsets and symbols are associated because the first letter of the brand name consumers associate with each symbol is the same as the corresponding character subset. Other types of associations are described in this specification and would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this specification. As depicted in FIG. 7, the symbol message  716  is generated by combining, in order, the associated symbols  709 ,  710 ,  711 ,  712 ,  713 ,  714  and  715 .  
         [0071]    [0071]FIG. 8 depicts a flow chart of another embodiment of the method of the present invention. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 8 comprises six steps for generating a symbol message:  
         [0072]    Divide A Core Set Of Message Characters Into At Least One Message Subset step  801 ;  
         [0073]    Display Each Message Subset step  802 ;  
         [0074]    Associate Each Message Subset With At least One Target Subset Of A Set of Target Symbols step  803 ;  
         [0075]    For Each Subset, Select One Of The Associated Target Subsets step  804 ;  
         [0076]    Replace Each Message Subset With The Selected Target Subset step  805 ; and  
         [0077]    Display Each Selected Target Subset step  806 .  
         [0078]    Step  801  comprises dividing a core set of message characters into at least one message subset. The core set of message characters may be all or part of a message, and each message subset may be all or part of the core set of message characters. For example, if a message is a sentence, the core set of message characters might be a word or a phrase of the sentence, or the entire sentence. If the core set of message characters is a word, a message subset might be a letter, a group of letters, a syllable, or the entire word. The message characters and message subsets may comprise alphanumeric characters, phonemes, words, ideographs, or any other visual mark.  
         [0079]    Step  802  of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 8 occurs after step  801  and involves displaying each resulting message subset. Display of each message subset shows and confirms how the core set of message characters has been divided.  
         [0080]    Step  803  associates each message subset with at least one target subset of a set of target symbols. For example, if a message subset is a phoneme, one or more target symbols associated by a target audience with company names beginning with the same phonetic sound as the phoneme might be associated with the message subset. The set of target symbols may be a closed set, or it may be an open set, for example, all registered trademarks. Step  803  may be implemented before or after either or both of steps  801  and  802 . Other ways to generate message subsets and target subsets of target symbols, and to associate message subsets with target subsets, are described in this specification and would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this specification.  
         [0081]    Step  804  follows, or occurs at the same time as, step  803 . Step  804  involves selecting one corresponding target subset for each message subset. For example, if five symbols are associated with one message subset, one of those five symbols would be selected to replace the corresponding message subset.  
         [0082]    Step  805  follows steps  801  through  804  and comprises replacing each message subset with the target subset selected for the message subset in step  804 . Step  805  converts the core set of message characters into a corresponding symbol message core.  
         [0083]    Step  806  follows step  805  and involves the display of each selected target subset. Step  806  may involve the display of one associated target subset for each message subset, or it may involve the display of all associated target subsets for each message subset.  
         [0084]    [0084]FIG. 9 depicts an example of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6. The message  901  in this example is “WELCOME TO MEMPHIS.” The core set of message characters  902  in this example is “MEMPHIS.” The core set of message characters  902  is divided into message subsets  903 ,  904 ,  905 ,  906 ,  907 ,  908 , and  909 : “M,” “E,” “M,” “P,” “H,” “I,” and “S,” and each message subset is displayed.  
         [0085]    As depicted in FIG. 9, message subset  903  is associated with a target subset  921  including target symbols  910 ,  911  and  912 ; message subset  904  is associated with a target subset  913  including target symbol  913 ; message subset  905  is associated with target subset  922  including target symbols  914 ,  915  and  916 ; message subset  906  is associated with target subset  917  including target symbol  917 ; message subset  907  is associated with target subset  918  including target symbol  918 ; message subset  908  is associated with target  919  including target symbol  919 ; and message subset  909  is associated with target  920  including target symbol  920 . The target subsets depicted in FIG. 9 were drawn from an open-ended target set of symbols comprising all proprietary symbols. In this example, all of the target symbols are registered trademarks. Target symbols  911 ,  913 ,  916 ,  917 ,  918 ,  919 , and  920  are then selected, one from each respective target subset  921 ,  913 ,  922 ,  917 ,  918 ,  919 , and  920 , to correspond respectively to each message subset  903 ,  904 ,  905 ,  906 ,  907 ,  908 , and  909 . Each message subset  903 ,  904 ,  905 ,  906 ,  907 ,  908 , and  909  is then replaced with the corresponding selected target subset, and result  923  is displayed. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 9, the final symbol message  924  is also displayed.  
         [0086]    Other embodiments of the present invention include apparatuses configured for generating symbol messages or grammars according to the present invention. FIG. 10 depicts five alternative embodiments. In each embodiment depicted in FIG. 10, the apparatus comprises an input device configured to receive a message, a visual display, a memory device configured to receive and store information, and a microprocessor in communication with the memory device, the input device, and the visual display.  
         [0087]    In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10( a ), an example of a desktop computer, the input device is stylus  1004  and pad  1003  for handwriting and drawing recognition and entry; the visual display is monitor  1001 ; and tower  1002  houses a microprocessor and a memory, which are in communication with each other and pad  1003  and monitor  1001 .  
         [0088]    In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10( b ), an example of a personal digital assistant, the input device comprises screen display  1005 , buttons  1006  and stylus  1007 ; the visual display is screen display  1005 ; and the personal digital assistant houses a microprocessor and a memory, which are in communication with each other and buttons  1006  and screen display  1005 .  
         [0089]    In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10( c ), an example of a laptop computer, the input device is keyboard  1010 ; the visual display is screen  1008 ; and laptop  1009  houses a microprocessor and a memory, which are in communication with each other and keyboard  1010  and screen  1008 .  
         [0090]    In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10( d ), another example of a desktop computer, the input device is microphone  1012 ; the visual display is screen  1013 ; and chassis  1011  houses a microprocessor (including voice recognition and generation hardware and software) and a memory, which are in communication with each other and microphone  1012  and screen  1013 .  
         [0091]    In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10( e ), an example of a wireless telephone, the input devices are keypad  1016 , microphone  1018 , and receiver/antenna  1017 ; the visual display is screen  1014 ; and the wireless telephone  1015  houses a microprocessor and a memory, which are in communication with each other and keypad  1016 , microphone  1018 , receiver/antenna  1017 , and screen display  1014 .  
         [0092]    In an embodiment, the apparatus according to the present invention is configured to divide a message into at least one message subset, to associate symbols (optionally symbols that are trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, registered service marks, or well-known marks) with each message subset, and to replace each message subset with the associated symbols.  
         [0093]    In an alternative embodiment, the apparatus according to the present invention is configured to divide a plurality of characters into at least one character subset, to associate symbols with each character subset, and to generate messages comprising the associated symbols.  
         [0094]    In another embodiment, the apparatus according to the present invention is configured to divide a core set of message characters into at least one message subset, to associate each message subset with at least one target symbol, to prompt the selection of one of the associated target symbols for each message subset, to replace each message subset with the selected target symbol, and to show each message subset and each selected target symbol.  
         [0095]    In another embodiment, the apparatus according to the present invention is configured to draw from a set of symbols, to generate an association between subsets of a set of characters and subsets of the set of symbols, and to generate a lexicon comprising such associations.  
         [0096]    More generally, available technology and information known in the art may be used to fabricate program and control components or devices capable of performing, or facilitating the performance of, the requisite tasks or steps for implementing the methods of the present invention. These components or devices include without limitation computers, computerized devices, cellular telephones, hand-held computerized devices, microprocessors, computerized devices, disk drives, floppy disks, CD-ROMs, CDs, and other computerized devices.  
         [0097]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to this invention of methods and apparatus for generating symbol messages and grammar without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention or of the claims. It is also intended that the present invention and appended claims cover modifications, variations and equivalents of the methods and apparatus for generating symbol messages and grammar of the present invention.

Technology Category: g