You might try to add a digital signature.

For anyone who might be interested: Used sfntedit in AFDKO to add a "dummy" DSIG and regenerated the OTF but it didn't help.

2003 does not support OpenType at all so that definately uses the "kern" table. I'm not sure how 2010 works.
Unfortunately we have need for use for the font in 2003 so I'm working with that now to try and see what's wrong.
Thanks,
Ken

Hmmff is right! Thanks for the tid-bit! However, I have another font devised much the same way for which the kerning WORKS in Word 2003.

Both fonts are updates to other fonts. The one that works initially came from a TTF, the one that doesn't initially came from a Type1. Could there be something "hiding" that's causing one to work and one not?

Oy.

Convert the Type1 font to TT, then try.

Thanks Theunis, but no, I don't think that's the problem. We do, indeed, have a liga feature in the font.

Té Rowan, I have actually used TTX on the OTF to make sure that kern table was still there as that is what Word would use. It looked to me like it WAS there so I'm still perplexed as to why Word would not be applying the kerning.

I did solve at least part of this. That being that Word 2010 was graying out its OpenType controls on the font dialog. I'm embarrassed to report that when Word 2010 opens a file created in an earlier version of Word by default it disables the OpenType features. In the Options, in the "Advanced" area, down at the bottom of the page is "Layout options." In that humungous list is the option to disable OpenType features.

In the little investigating I've managed to do with Word 2010 it definitely treats files created in an earlier version significantly different than doing a new document. I have, for instance, a document created in an earlier version of Word in which I can get NO kerning to work. However, do a new file, use the same font, in the same size and Word uses the class kerning. I've not looked very far into this one as of yet.

Thanks again guys for the help.

Ken

Well, while we're on the subject of TTX…

As some of you may know, one of the things that I would like to implement with my new LUV line (now a Registered Microsoft Vendor!) is a unique serial number for every font sold. Am I correct in assuming that this task could be accomplished at point of sale, simply by converting the font to XML, appending a ten-digit serial number to the Type 1 XUID field, converting the font back to OTF or TTF format, then delivering the finished product via download link? A separate database would, of course, tie the serial number to purchaser data.

Then, there's the separate issue of dsig. It would be nice to offer digitally signed fonts, but the mechanics of how to implement this element escape me at the moment. Big surprise.

Wow: copyright date 2001. The W3C’s DSig project lapsed a few years ago. And…the mechanics STILL escape me.

I've loved that idea for years.

hhp

You can't be marginalized if you were never in it.

hhp

I believe some font vendors are already shipping fonts with serialisation, in custom tables, and have been for some time. Workflow is presumably something like this: generate the table, merge it into the font with something like TTX, then apply a digital signature.

The sfnt table structure enables one to put pretty much anything into a TTF or OTF binary. Even pictures of kittens.

Pictures of kittens is a nice idea. Or haikus. Anything that would count as an artistic work, thus strengthening the copyright protection of fonts ;)