Electronic document management system and method
First Claim
1. An electronic document management system for verifying the contents of an electronic document exchanged through a network and comprising variable data input by a user, said system comprising:
- (a) a data capturing component for capturing data defining an electronic document, wherein said data comprises at least said variable data, and forwarding said data for storage;
(b) a document digest generator for generating a digest from said defined electronic document by applying a secure algorithm thereto, whereby said digest is uniquely associated with said defined electronic document, and forwarding said digest for storage in association with said defined electronic document;
(c) a barcode generator for generating a barcode from said generated digest whereby said barcode uniquely identifies said defined electronic document and the contents thereof;
(d) a document forwarding component for forwarding said defined electronic document with said barcode added thereto for use by a user;
(e) a document receiving component for receiving from a user a signed electronic document comprising variable data and a barcode; and
, (f) a barcode verification component for determining the validity of said barcode of said received electronic document wherein a digest component of said barcode is compared to said stored digest associated with said defined electronic document.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a system and method for establishing and managing authenticated electronic documents (e.g. commercial contracts) whereby the content, revision status and authenticating parties are stored, tracked, retrieved and validated on demand by permitted users. Variable document data is input by user into an electronic form template and this data is captured by the system. The system derives a document number and revision number for the document and all of this identifying information is associated with the document and stored. A document digest formula is applied to generate a unique document digest. The system then generates a unique barcode for each page of the document based on the digest, document number, revision number and paging details and the barcodes are electronically added to the associated pages of the document. Either the parties to the document sign a printed copy of the barcoded document or a digital signature is applied using a third party validation service. The resultant signed and barcoded document is stored electronically whereby permitted users may locate existing documents (e.g. contracts), track document revisions and validate document contents and signatories.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An electronic document management system for verifying the contents of an electronic document exchanged through a network and comprising variable data input by a user, said system comprising:
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(a) a data capturing component for capturing data defining an electronic document, wherein said data comprises at least said variable data, and forwarding said data for storage;
(b) a document digest generator for generating a digest from said defined electronic document by applying a secure algorithm thereto, whereby said digest is uniquely associated with said defined electronic document, and forwarding said digest for storage in association with said defined electronic document;
(c) a barcode generator for generating a barcode from said generated digest whereby said barcode uniquely identifies said defined electronic document and the contents thereof;
(d) a document forwarding component for forwarding said defined electronic document with said barcode added thereto for use by a user;
(e) a document receiving component for receiving from a user a signed electronic document comprising variable data and a barcode; and
,(f) a barcode verification component for determining the validity of said barcode of said received electronic document wherein a digest component of said barcode is compared to said stored digest associated with said defined electronic document. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for managing and verifying the contents of an electronic document exchanged through a network and comprising variable data input by a user, said method comprising:
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(a) capturing data defining an electronic document, whereby said data comprises at least said variable data, and forwarding said data for storage;
(b) generating a digest from said defined electronic document by applying a secure algorithm thereto whereby said digest is uniquely associated with said defined electronic document, and forwarding said digest for storage in association with said defined electronic document;
(c) generating a barcode from said generated digest whereby said barcode uniquely identifies said defined electronic document and the contents thereof;
(d) forwarding said defined electronic document with said barcode added thereto for use by a user;
(e) receiving from a user a signed electronic document comprising variable data and a barcode; and
,(f) determining the validity of said barcode of a document received by said document receiving component wherein a digest component of said barcode is compared to said stored digest associated with said defined electronic document. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification