PATENT
Application for Letters Patent Entitled METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR REMOTE RECORDING OF LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
Inventor(s): Attorney: Attorney Docket Number:
Kristen Williams Ronald Chichester of Ronald Chichester, P.C. UH_PA01
CERTIFICATE OF MAILING VIA EXPRESS MAIL 37 C.F.R. 1.10 I
HEREBY CERTIFY THAT
I
HAVE A REASONABLE BASIS FOR BELIEF THAT
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE AS EXPRESS MAIL, POST OFFICE TO ADDRESSEE, ON THE DATE INDICATED BELOW, AND IS ADDRESSED HONORABLE COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. BOX 1450 ALEXANDRIA, VA 22313-1450
THIS CORRESPONDENCE IS BEING DEPOSITED WITH THE
TO:
___________________________________________ RONALD L. CHICHESTER, Registration No. 36,765 DATE OF MAILING: EXPRESS MAIL LABEL: OCTOBER __, 2007
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PATENT METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR REMOTE RECORDING OF LICENSE TRANSACTIONS TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to communications systems. More
specifically, the present invention is related to recording the transfer of licensed electronic material.
BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY People download licensed material, such as songs and software
applications, via the Internet on a regular basis. While this mechanism of data transfer has been fulfilling for the licensor, keeping track of the licensed transaction is problematic and troublesome for the licensee. All too often, users lose paper copies that document the purchase of the license. Even more
problematic is the storage of the license transaction on electronic media, such as hard disks, which are known to fail with alarming frequency. Indeed, recover from a hard disk failure is often compounded by the need to repurchase the electronic data, even though the licensor has already purchased the requisite number of licenses from the manufacturer. There is, therefore, a need in the art for a method and system for recording the transfer of licensed material in a way that enables both the licensor and the licensee to know, from a trusted third party, that the licensee is entitled to a
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PATENT certain number of copies of the licensed material.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete understanding of the present disclosure and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the system according to the teachings of the present disclosure. While the present invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific exemplary embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an apparatus, system and method for recording transactions involving licensed material on a third party computer system that is accessible by the licensor and the licensee. The “license escrow service” enables
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PATENT both parties in a transaction to know that, if there is a dispute as to whether one party should have one or more copies of licensed information, then the court or either (or both) parties may consult the owner of the license escrow service to help settle the dispute. The system of the present invention includes a third party computer system, a user computer system, and a seller computer system. Each of these computer systems is connected to the other by one or more local or wide area networks, such as the Internet. When a license transaction is consummated, a set of data concerning the transaction is transmitted to the third party computer system for recordation. Appropriate backup copies of the transaction are
maintained by the owner of the third party computer system so that, if necessary, the licensor, the licensee, a court, or law enforcement officials can determine the number of copies of the licensed material are allowed to be in the possession of the licensee. The present invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. Specific embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of example in the drawings and are described herein in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description set forth herein of specific
embodiments is not intended to limit the present invention to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, all modifications, alternatives, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims
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PATENT are intended to be covered.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, the details of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are schematically illustrated. Like elements in the drawings will be represented by like numbers, and similar elements will be represented by like numbers with a different lower case letter suffix. Referring to Figure 1, the system 100 of the present invention consists of a seller computer system 10 that is connected to a local or wide area network 12, such as the Internet. A user computer system 16 is also in operative connection with the network 12 so that the seller computer system 10 can transmit one or more copies of electronic data to the user computer system 16. When the seller transmits a copy of the licensed material to the user, at least one set of data regarding the transaction is also transmitted, sometimes contemporaneously, to a third party computer system 14 as illustrated in Figure 1. The set of data
regarding the transaction can be stored on non-volitile media of the third party computer system 14, such as a hard disk, compact disk, DVD, or the like. Typically, this data stored on a database which allows for periodic backup and/or replication as well as updating and retrieval. Encryption and other security
mechanisms may be implemented to maintain the security and integrity of the data, while still enabling the user, seller, court or law enforcement agency access
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PATENT to one or more selected elements of the data. The present invention has been described in terms of specific exemplary embodiments. In accordance with the present invention, the parameters for a system may be varied, typically with a design engineer specifying and selecting them for the desired application. Further, it is contemplated that other embodiments, which may be devised readily by persons of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings set forth herein, may be within the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. The present invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners that will be apparent to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of the teachings set forth herein.
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PATENT CLAIMS
What is claimed is: 1. A system for recording transactions involving electronic data comprising: a central server, the central server constructed and arranged to accept signals concerning the transaction and recording information regarding the transaction; a seller computer system, the seller computer system constructed and arranged to conduct the transaction and to provide signals concerning the transaction to the central server; a user computer system, the user computer system constructed and arranged to accept the electronic data provided by the seller computer system; and a telecommunications system linking the seller computer system, the central server and the user computer system in operative communication; wherein, when the seller computer system provides a licensed copy of the electronic data to the user computer system, a first set of information is signaled to the central server for recordation.
2.
The system of claim 1, wherein the first set of information includes the
name of the purchaser.
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PATENT
3.
The system of claim 1, wherein the first set of information includes a hash
of the electronic data associated with the transaction.
4.
The system of claim 1, wherein the first set of information includes the
name of the electronic data associated with the transaction.
5.
The system of claim 1, wherein the first set of information includes the
date the electronic data associated with the transaction.
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PATENT 6. A method for recording transactions involving electronic data comprising: providing a central server, the central server constructed and arranged to accept signals concerning the transaction and recording information regarding the transaction; providing a seller computer system, the seller computer system
constructed and arranged to conduct the transaction and to provide signals concerning the transaction to the central server; providing a user computer system, the user computer system constructed and arranged to accept the electronic data provided by the seller computer system; and providing a telecommunications system linking the seller computer system, the central server and the user computer system in operative communication; wherein, when the seller computer system provides a licensed copy of the electronic data to the user computer system, a first set of information is signaled to the central server for recordation.
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PATENT METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR REMOTE RECORDING OF LICENSE TRANSACTIONS ABSTRACT An apparatus, system and method are provided for maintaining information regarding the conveyance of a license for software or other electronic media. The system provides a central server and telecommunications mechanisms, such as the Internet. When a user procures a licensed copy of a software application or other electronic media, a record is created on the central server by the company that is conveying the licensed material via the telecommunications mechanism. The purchaser of the licensed copy is provided with confirmation of the recordation by the telecommunications mechanism. In case there is a
disputes as to the ownership of a license, the central server can be consulted and the dispute settled.
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