Systems and methods for printing documents containing electronic signatures

• US 20030063744A1
• Filed: 09/28/2001
• Published: 04/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Parry, Travis J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,041,952 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/608 Secure printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 Third party
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity

Abstract

Systems and methods for validating electronic signatures contained in a printable document prior to allowing the document to be printed. The systems and methods may be incorporated into a printing device or a computer. Documents without electronic signatures are printed normally. If the document contains one or more electronic signatures, then the electronic signature(s) must be validated before the document is allowed to print. Validation is accomplished by comparing a public key contained in the electronic signature to a public key stored in an electronic signature database. If the electronic signature is validated, then the document may print.

Claims

1. A method for printing a document that contains an electronic signature, comprising:

detecting the presence of the electronic signature in the document;

determining a user identifier associated with the document, the user identifier identifying a person who has signed the document;

identifying a public key associated with the electronic signature;

verifying whether or not the public key associated with the electronic signature is a public key that has been created by the person who signed the document;

printing the document if the verification determines that the public key associated with the electronic signature is a public key created by the person who signed the document.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the detecting the presence of the electronic signature further comprises detecting an electronic tag within the document that indicates the presence of an associated electronic signature.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the determining a user identifier associated with the document further comprises identifying the user identifier as at least a portion of the electronic signature.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein identifying the public key further comprises identifying the public key as at least a portion of the electronic signature.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising accessing a signature database that stores a plurality of user identifiers and a plurality of public keys, each public key being associated with a user identifier;

and

wherein the verifying further comprises verifying that the user identifier associated with the document and the public key associated with the electronic signature are associated with each other in the signature database.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the printing further comprises printing the electronic signature with the document.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the printing the electronic signature further comprises printing an image of a handwritten signature of the person who signed the document.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the public key further comprises a public key that is created by encrypting a private key with a password key, the private key and the password key being uniquely associated with the person who signed the document.

9. A printing device, comprising:

a signature detection module configured to detect an electronic signature in a document received by the printer;

a verification module configured to validate the electronic signature by verifying that a user identifier and a public key derived from the electronic signature are associated with each other in a signature database maintained by a signature authority.

10. The printing device as recited in claim 9, wherein the verification module is further configured to derive the user identifier from the electronic signature by recognizing at least a portion of the electronic signature as the user identifier.

11. The printing device as recited in claim 9, wherein the verification module is further configured to derive the public key from the electronic signature by recognizing at least a portion of the electronic signature as the public key.

12. The printing device as recited in claim 9, wherein the signature detection module is further configured to detect an electronic signature in a document by detecting an electronic tag in the document that indicates the presence of an electronic signature.

13. The printing device as recited in claim 9, further comprising a printing module configured to allow the printing device to print a document that contains an electronic signature only if the verification module validates the electronic signature.

14. The printing device as recited in claim 9, further comprising a printing module configured to prevent printing of a document having an electronic signature if the verification module cannot validate the electronic signature.

15. One or more computer-readable media containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform the following steps:

receiving an electronic document for printing;

determining is the electronic document includes an electronic signature;

if the electronic document includes an electronic signature, validating the electronic signature before allowing the electronic document to be printed.

16. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 15, further comprising additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform the following additional step:

printing the electronic document if the electronic document does not contain an electronic signature.

17. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 15, further comprising identifying a public key associated with the electronic signature, and wherein the validating step further comprises using the public key to validate the electronic signature.

18. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 17, wherein the identifying a public key further comprises identifying a public key that is included in the electronic signature.

19. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 15, further comprising identifying a user identifier associated with the electronic signature, and wherein the validating step further comprises using the user identifier to validate the electronic signature.

20. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 19, wherein the identifying a user identifier further comprises identifying a user identifier that is included in the electronic signature.

21. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein the validating step further comprises:

accessing an electronic signature database;

comparing a key from the electronic signature to a key in the electronic signature database;

validating the electronic signature if the key from the electronic signature matches the key in the electronic signature database.

22. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 15, further comprising printing the electronic signature with the document if the electronic signature is valid.