Dynamic business relationship establishment in a public wireless LAN environment
First Claim
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1. A method for enabling an operator of a network to establish a business relationship with a Billing agent, comprising the steps of:
- establishing a secure communications channel with the Billing Agent;
verifying the Billing agent;
communicating to the Billing Agent proposed business terms including a charge for imposition by the network operator for access by a user; and
receiving from the Billing Agent an acceptance of business terms agreeable to the Billing Agent.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An operator of a network (20) dynamically establishes a business relationship with a Billing Agent (26) to enable the network operator to receive reimbursement for access charges incurred by one or more users (121, 122 and 123). To establish such a relationship, the network operator first opens a communications channel to the Billing Agent after which the network operator and Billing Agent verify each other. Following verification, the network operator communicates proposed business terms and conditions, including access charges, to the Billing Agent. In response, the Billing Agent sends to the network operator an acceptance of business terms acceptable to the Billing Agent. After reaching agreement on the terms and conditions, the Billing Agent and network operator will each digitally acknowledge a formal agreement that embodies the agreed upon terms.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for enabling an operator of a network to establish a business relationship with a Billing agent, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a secure communications channel with the Billing Agent;
verifying the Billing agent;
communicating to the Billing Agent proposed business terms including a charge for imposition by the network operator for access by a user; and
receiving from the Billing Agent an acceptance of business terms agreeable to the Billing Agent. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for enabling an operator of a network to establish a business relationship with a Billing agent, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a secure communications channel with the Billing Agent;
verifying the Billing agent;
communicating to the Billing Agent proposed business terms including a charge for imposition by the network operator for access by a user;
receiving from the Billing Agent one of (1) an acceptance of the terms proposed by the network operator when the Billing Agent finds such business terms agreeable, and (2) a counter proposal of business terms acceptable to the Billing Agent when the Billing Agent finds at least one of the proposed terms unacceptable; and
communicating to the Billing Agent a formal agreement of the business terms acceptable to the Billing Agent and acknowledged by the network operator. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for enabling an operator of a network to establish a business relationship with a Billing agent, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a secure communications channel with the Billing Agent in response to a request for access by a user;
verifying the Billing agent by exchanging digital certificates between the Billing Agent and the network operator;
communicating to the Billing Agent proposed business terms including a charge for imposition by the network operator for access by a user;
receiving from the Billing Agent one of (1) an acceptance of the terms proposed by the network operator when the Billing Agent finds such business terms agreeable, and (2) a counter proposal of business terms acceptable to the Billing Agent when the Billing Agent finds at least one of the proposed terms unacceptable;
communicating to the Billing Agent a formal agreement of the business terms acceptable to the Billing Agent and acknowledged by the network operator; and
receiving from the Billing Agent an acknowledgement of acceptance of the formal agreement. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A method for enabling an operator of a network to establish a business relationship with a Billing agent, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a secure communications channel with the Billing Agent;
verifying the Billing agent;
communicating to the Billing Agent proposed business terms including a proposed charge imposed by the network operator for access by a user;
communicating to a user the proposed charge for approval when the proposed charge exceeds an amount previously agreed to between the user and the Billing agent for access; and
receiving from the Billing Agent an acceptance of business terms upon acceptance of the proposed charge by the user.
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16. Apparatus for enabling an operator of a network to establish a business relationship with a Billing agent, comprising the steps of:
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means for establishing a communications channel with the Billing Agent;
means for verifying the Billing agent;
means for communicating to the Billing Agent proposed business terms including an access charge for imposition by the network operator for access by a user; and
means for receiving from the Billing Agent an acceptance of business terms agreeable to the Billing Agent.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeMagnolia Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
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Original AssigneeThomson Licensing SA (Vantiva SA)
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InventorsRamaswamy, Kumar, Zhang, Junbiao, Mody, Sachin Satish, Wang, Charles Chaunming
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Granted Patent
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Time in Patent OfficeDays
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Field of Search
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US Class Current705/50
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CPC Class CodesG06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicingH04L 12/14 Charging , metering or bill...H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptogr...H04L 63/126 the source of the received ...
