APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT CERTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION
First Claim
1. A method for electronically certifying electronic documents, the method comprising:
- receiving a request to certify an electronic document from a certification requester;
extracting from the electronic document a digital certification signature that is unique to the electronic document;
providing a certification identifier that is associated to the digital certification signature;
storing certification information for the electronic document, the certification information including an association between the certification identifier and the digital certification signature; and
transmitting the certification identifier to the certification requester.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The certification of electronic documents for subsequent verification and authentication is disclosed. Pursuant to a request to certify a document, a digital signature is extracted from the document. The digital signature corresponds to the content of the document and is unique to the document. Thus, signatures extracted from documents that are even slightly different from the certified document, or from a document that has been changed, will be different. A certification provider maintains the digital certification signature, an identification code such as a serial number, and other information such as the time and date of certification. The serial number is returned to the certification requester. When verification is sought, the serial number and the document alleged to have been certified are given to the certification provider. The serial number is used to index the previously extracted digital certification signature. The same extraction process is used to extract a signature from the document alleged to have been certified. Then the digital signatures are compared. A match indicates that the alleged document and the previously certified one are the same, and a mismatch indicates the opposite. The certification can be used to provide an electronic timestamp for a document, thus providing proof of possession of the document at the time of certification. It can also be used in conjunction with an electronic mail transmission to a third party recipient, thus providing certified electronic mail.
98 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for electronically certifying electronic documents, the method comprising:
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receiving a request to certify an electronic document from a certification requester;
extracting from the electronic document a digital certification signature that is unique to the electronic document;
providing a certification identifier that is associated to the digital certification signature;
storing certification information for the electronic document, the certification information including an association between the certification identifier and the digital certification signature; and
transmitting the certification identifier to the certification requester. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for receiving a request to certify an electronic document from a certification requester and certifying the electronic document, the apparatus comprising:
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a signature generation module including routines for extracting from the electronic document a digital certification signature that is unique to the electronic document;
a certification module, coupled to the signature generation module, the certification module including routines for receiving the request to certify the electronic document, for providing a certification identifier that is associated to the digital certification signature, and for transmitting the certification identifier to the certification requester; and
a certification data module, coupled with the certification module, for storing certification information for the electronic document, the certification information including an association between the certification identifier and the digital certification signature. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for receiving a request to certify an electronic document from a certification requester and certifying the electronic document, the apparatus comprising:
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signature generating means, for extracting from the electronic document a digital certification signature that is unique to the electronic document;
certifying means, coupled to the signature generating means, for receiving the request to certify the electronic document, for providing a certification identifier that is associated to the digital certification signature, and for transmitting the certification identifier to the certification requester; and
a memory, coupled to the certifying means, for storing certification information for the electronic document, the certification information including an association between the certification identifier and the digital certification signature. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification