Helvetica Font

Definition: First designed by Max Miedinger in 1957, the Helvetica font is a sans serif typeface. Originally called Neue Haas Grotesk, it was renamed Helvetica, a name derived from Helvetia, the Latin name for Switzerland (which is why some look-alike Helvetica fonts are called Swiss or Switzerland).

There are several classifications of sans serif fonts. The Helvetica font is one of the grotesque or grotesk sans serif fonts. It may also be classified further as neo-grotesque to differentiate it and its contemporaries from earlier grotesque fonts. It was based on Haas Grotesk and similar sans serifs which were themselves based on or inspired by Akzidenz-Grotesk, one of the first really successful sans serif fonts.

Helvetica is a registered trademark of Linotype-Hell AG and/or its subsidiaries.

From the Linotype site: "Helvetica is a Trademark of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, which may be registered in certain jurisdictions, exclusively licensed through Linotype Library GmbH, a fully owned subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG."

For more on the history of the Helvetica font see:
_{Eye Magazine 63: It may be the world’s most popular sans, but Helvetica has many deficiencies – not least its lack of real italics by Martin Majoor
Linotype: About Helvetica® Font Family ... by Linotype Design Studio}