Systems and methods for creating, manipulating and processing rights and contract expressions using tokenized templates

• US 20030182142A1
• Filed: 11/19/2002
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. (Pendrell Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. (Pendrell Corporation)
• Inventors: Tran, Duc, Chen, Eddie J., DeMartini, Thomas, Fung, Joseph Zhung Yee, Tieu, Vincent Hsiang, Valenzuela, Edgardo, Nguyen, Mai
• Granted Patent: US 7,558,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/83555 using a structured language for describing usage rules of the content, e.g. REL

Abstract

System and methods for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system include one or more tokenized templates. Each tokenized template includes one or more rights expression language statements and one or more tokens associated with at least one of the rights expression language statements. Further, the tokens can be place holders for data items or rights expression elements. The system further includes a license template module that creates the tokenized templates, and a license instance creation module that replaces at least one of the tokens in one or more selected license templates with one or more of the data items or rights expression elements to generate a license instance. Additionally, the system includes a license instance analysis module having sub-modules for validating and interpreting license instances, and a data parsing module for extracting data from created license instances.

Claims

1. A system for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system, the system for manipulating comprising:

a license template module that creates one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items;

a license instance creation module that replaces at least one of the first tokens in one or more selected license templates with one or more of the data items to generate a license instance; and

a license instance analysis module that compares one or more portions of the license instance with one or more of the license templates to find at least one portion of the license instance which corresponds to at least one of the license templates, the license instance analysis module providing a result set indicating whether at least one corresponding license template exists.

2. The system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a data parsing module that extracts data from the license instance by merging the one or more portions of the license instance and the corresponding license templates together, the first tokens in the corresponding license templates identifying one or more of the data items within the merged portion of the license instance to be extracted.

3. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of the first tokens define a place holder for one of a plurality of corresponding second tokens, the second tokens being different than the corresponding first tokens.

4. The system as set forth in claim 3 wherein the license instance creation module is configured to replace one or more first tokens in one or more selected license templates with the corresponding one or more second tokens.

5. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein one or more of the first tokens in the license templates define data items to be ignored by the license instance analysis module.

6. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the license instance analysis module is configured to determine whether a condition is satisfied as to a set minimum number of the one or more portions of the license instance having at least one corresponding license template, the result set representing the determination by the license instance analysis module that the license instance is valid upon the set minimum number condition being satisfied.

7. The system as set forth in claim 6 wherein the set minimum number represents a total number of the portions that form the license instance.

8. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the license instance analysis module is configured to obtain a set of the corresponding license templates indicated to exist, the result set representing the set of the existing corresponding license templates.

9. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the result set further comprises one or more method calls associated with the existing corresponding license templates.

10. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the result set further comprises one or more definitions for one or more of the existing corresponding license templates.

11. The system as set forth in claim 10 wherein the definitions comprise user-readable explanations.

12. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the system for manipulating is updated by adding a new license template.

13. The system as set forth in claim 12 wherein the new license template is placed in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the system for manipulating.

14. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the rights expression language statements are expressed in a rights expression language.

15. The system as set forth in claim 14 wherein the rights expression language comprises XrML.

16. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the license templates define well-formed rights expressions.

17. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of the license templates comprise a full rights expression or a fragmented rights expression.

18. A license template for use with a system for manipulating rights expressions used in connection with a rights management system, the template comprising:

one or more rights expression statements; and

one or more first tokens associated with at least one of the rights expression statements, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items.

19. The system as set forth in claim 18 wherein at least one of the first tokens define a place holder for one of a plurality of corresponding second tokens, the second tokens being different than the corresponding first tokens.

20. The system as set forth in claim 18 wherein one or more of the first tokens in the license templates define data items to be ignored by one or more modules of the rights management system.

21. The system as set forth in claim 18 wherein the system for manipulating is updated by adding a new license template.

22. The system as set forth in claim 21 wherein the new license template is placed in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the system for manipulating.

23. The system as set forth in claim 18 wherein the rights expression language statements are expressed in a rights expression language.

24. The system as set forth in claim 23 wherein the rights expression language comprises XrML.

25. The system as set forth in claim 18 wherein the license templates define well-formed rights expressions.

26. The system as set forth in claim 18 wherein at least one of the license templates comprise a full rights expression or a fragmented rights expression.

27. A system for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system, the system for manipulating comprising:

a license template module that creates one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items.

28. The system as set forth in claim 27 wherein the license templates define well-formed rights expressions.

29. The system as set forth in claim 27 wherein at least one of the license templates comprises a full rights expression or a fragmented rights expression.

30. The system as set forth in claim 27 wherein at least one of the first tokens define a place holder for one of a plurality of corresponding second tokens, the second tokens being different than the corresponding first tokens.

31. The system as set forth in claim 27 wherein one or more of the first tokens in the license templates define data items to be ignored by one or more modules in the system for manipulating rights expressions.

32. The system as set forth in claim 27 wherein the system for manipulating is updated by adding a new license template.

33. The system as set forth in claim 32 wherein the new license template is placed in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the system for manipulating.

34. A system for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system, the system for manipulating comprising:

one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items; and

a license instance creation module that replaces one or more first tokens in one or more selected license templates with one or more of the data items to generate a license instance.

35. The system as set forth in claim 34 wherein at least one of the first tokens define a place holder for one of a plurality of corresponding second tokens, the second tokens being different than the corresponding first tokens.

36. The system as set forth in claim 35 wherein the license instance creation module is configured to replace one or more first tokens in one or more selected license templates with the corresponding one or more second tokens.

37. The system as set forth in claim 34 wherein the system for manipulating is updated by adding a new license template.

38. The system as set forth in claim 37 wherein the new license template is placed in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the system for manipulating.

39. A system for manipulating rights expression for use in connection with a rights management system comprising:

one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items; and

a license instance analysis module that compares one or more portions of the license instance with one or more of the license templates to find at least one portion of the license instance which corresponds to at least one of the license templates, the license instance analysis module providing a result set indicating whether at least one corresponding license template exists.

40. The system as set forth in claim 39 wherein one or more of the first tokens in the license templates define data items to be ignored by the license instance analysis module.

41. The system as set forth in claim 39 wherein the license instance analysis module is configured to determine whether a condition is satisfied as to a set minimum number of the one or more portions of the license instance having at least one corresponding license template, the result set representing the determination by the license instance analysis module that the license instance is valid upon the set minimum number condition being satisfied.

42. The system as set forth in claim 41 wherein the set minimum number represents a total number of the portions that form the license instance.

43. The system as set forth in claim 39 wherein the license instance analysis module is configured to obtain a set of the corresponding license templates indicated to exist, the result set representing the set of the existing corresponding license templates.

44. The system as set forth in claim 43 wherein the result set further comprises one or more method calls associated with the existing corresponding license templates.

45. The system as set forth in claim 43 wherein the result set further comprises one or more definitions for one or more of the existing corresponding license templates.

46. The system as set forth in claim 45 wherein the definitions comprise user-readable explanations.

47. The system as set forth in claim 39 wherein the system for manipulating is updated by adding a new license template.

48. The system as set forth in claim 47 wherein the new license template is placed in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the system for manipulating.

49. A system for interpreting licenses for use in connection with a rights management system, the system comprising:

one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items;

a data parsing module that extracts data from a license instance by comparing one or more portions of the license instance with one or more of the license templates to find at least one portion of the license instance which corresponds to at least one of the license templates and merging one or more portions of the license instance and the corresponding license templates together, the first tokens in the corresponding license templates identifying one or more of the data items within the merged portion of the license instance to be extracted.

50. The system as set forth in claim 49 wherein the system for interpreting licenses is updated by adding a new license template.

51. The system as set forth in claim 50 wherein the new license template is placed in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the system for interpreting licenses.

52. The system as set forth in claim 49 wherein the rights expression language statements are expressed in a rights expression language.

53. The system as set forth in claim 52 wherein the rights expression language comprises XrML.

54. The system as set forth in claim 49 wherein the license templates define well-formed rights expressions.

55. The system as set forth in claim 49 wherein at least one of the license templates comprise a full rights expression or a fragmented rights expression.

56. A method for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system, the method for manipulating comprising:

creating one or more license templates, the license templates each having one or more rights expression statements;

associating one or more first tokens with the rights expression statements, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items;

replacing at least one of the first tokens in one or more selected license templates with one or more of the data items to generate a license instance;

comparing one or more portions of the license instance with one or more of the license templates to find at least one portion of the license instance which corresponds to at least one of the license templates; and

providing a result set indicating whether at least one corresponding license template exists.

57. The method as set forth in claim 56 further comprising extracting data from the license instance by merging the one or more portions of the license instance and the corresponding license templates together, the first tokens in the corresponding license templates identifying one or more of the data items within the merged portion of the license instance to be extracted.

58. The method as set forth in claim 56 wherein at least one of the first tokens define a place holder for one of a plurality of corresponding second tokens, the second tokens being different than the corresponding first tokens.

59. The method as set forth in claim 58 further comprising replacing one or more first tokens in one or more selected license templates with the corresponding one or more second tokens.

60. The method as set forth in claim 56 wherein one or more of the first tokens in the license templates define data items to be ignored by a license instance analysis module.

61. The method as set forth in claim 56 further comprising determining whether a condition is satisfied as to a set minimum number of the one or more portions of the license instance having at least one corresponding license template, the result set representing the determination by a license instance analysis module that the license instance is valid upon the set minimum number condition being satisfied.

62. The method as set forth in claim 61 wherein the set minimum number represents a total number of the portions that form the license instance.

63. The method as set forth in claim 56 further comprising obtaining a set of the corresponding license templates indicated to exist, the result set representing the set of the existing corresponding license templates.

64. The method as set forth in claim 63 wherein the result set further comprises one or more method calls associated with the existing corresponding license templates.

65. The method as set forth in claim 63 wherein the result set further comprises one or more definitions for one or more of the existing corresponding license templates.

66. The method as set forth in claim 65 wherein the definitions comprise user-readable explanations.

67. The method as set forth in claim 56 further comprising adding a new license template to the rights management system.

68. The method as set forth in claim 67 further comprising placing the new license template in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the rights management system.

69. The method as set forth in claim 56 wherein the rights expression language statements are expressed in a rights expression language.

70. The method as set forth in claim 69 wherein the rights expression language comprises XrML.

71. The method as set forth in claim 56 wherein the license templates define well-formed rights expressions.

72. The method as set forth in claim 56 wherein at least one of the license templates comprise a full rights expression or a fragmented rights expression.

73. A method for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system, the method for manipulating comprising:

creating one or more license templates, the license templates each having one or more rights expression statements; and

associating one or more first tokens with the rights expression statements, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items.

74. The method as set forth in claim 73 wherein the license templates define well-formed rights expressions.

75. The method as set forth in claim 73 wherein at least one of the license templates comprises a full rights expression or a fragmented rights expression.

76. The method as set forth in claim 73 wherein at least one of the first tokens define a place holder for one of a plurality of corresponding second tokens, the second tokens being different than the corresponding first tokens.

77. The method as set forth in claim 73 wherein one or more of the first tokens in the license templates define data items to be ignored by one or more modules in the rights management system.

78. The method as set forth in claim 73 further comprising adding a new license template to the rights management system.

79. The method as set forth in claim 78 further comprising placing the new license template in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the rights management system.

80. A method for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system having one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items, the method for manipulating comprising:

replacing at least one of a plurality of first tokens in one or more selected license templates with one or more data items to generate a license instance.

81. The method as set forth in claim 80 wherein at least one of the first tokens define a place holder for one of a plurality of corresponding second tokens, the second tokens being different than the corresponding first tokens.

82. The method as set forth in claim 81 further comprising replacing one or more first tokens in one or more selected license templates with the corresponding one or more second tokens.

83. The method as set forth in claim 80 further comprising adding a new license template to the rights management system.

84. The method as set forth in claim 83 further comprising placing the new license template in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the rights management system.

85. A method for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system having one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items, the method for manipulating comprising:

comparing one or more portions of the license instance with one or more of the license templates to find at least one portion of the license instance which corresponds to at least one of the license templates; and

providing a result set indicating whether at least one corresponding license template exists.

86. The method as set forth in claim 85 wherein one or more of the first tokens in the license templates define data items to be ignored by a license instance analysis module.

87. The method as set forth in claim 85 further comprising determining whether a condition is satisfied as to a set minimum number of the one or more portions of the license instance having at least one corresponding license template, the result set representing the determination by the license instance analysis module that the license instance is valid upon the set minimum number condition being satisfied.

88. The method as set forth in claim 87 wherein the set minimum number represents a total number of the portions that form the license instance.

89. The method as set forth in claim 85 further comprising obtaining a set of the corresponding license templates indicated to exist, the result set representing the set of the existing corresponding license templates.

90. The method as set forth in claim 89 wherein the result set further comprises one or more method calls associated with the existing corresponding license templates.

91. The method as set forth in claim 89 wherein the result set further comprises one or more definitions for one or more of the existing corresponding license templates.

92. The method as set forth in claim 91 wherein the definitions comprise user-readable explanations.

93. The method as set forth in claim 85 further comprising adding a new license template to the rights management system.

94. The method as set forth in claim 93 further comprising placing the new license template in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the rights management system.

95. A method for interpreting licenses for use in connection with a rights management system having one or more license templates, the license templates each have one or more rights expression statements, the rights expression statements each have one or more first tokens associated therewith, at least one of the first tokens being a place holder for one of a plurality of data items, the method for manipulating rights expressions comprising:

comparing one or more portions of the license instance with one or more of the license templates to find at least one portion of the license instance which corresponds to at least one of the license templates; and

extracting data from the license instance by merging the one or more portions of the license instance and the corresponding license templates together, the first tokens in the corresponding license templates identifying one or more of the data items within the merged portion of the license instance to be extracted.

96. The method as set forth in claim 95 further comprising adding a new license template to the system for interpreting licenses.

97. The method as set forth in claim 96 further comprising placing the new license template in a first location accessible to one or more modules in the system for interpreting licenses.

98. The system as set forth in claim 95 wherein the rights expression language statements are expressed in a rights expression language.

99. The system as set forth in claim 98 wherein the rights expression language comprises XrML.

100. The method as set forth in claim 95 wherein the license templates define well-formed rights expressions.

101. The method as set forth in claim 95 wherein at least one of the license templates comprise a full rights expression or a fragmented rights expression.