Authorization token accompanying request and including constraint tied to request

• US 20040073518A1
• Filed: 10/15/2002
• Published: 04/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Atkinson, Robert George, Utzschneider, James, Levy, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 7,177,847 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/65
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/367 involving electronic purses or money safes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3825 Use of electronic signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/12 Card verification

Abstract

A business relationship is effectuated between a first party and a second party and is governed by an agreement between the first party and the second party. The first party creates a token that authorizes a delegate to request a transaction according to the agreement on behalf of the first party, specifies in the token at least one constraint on a transaction requested by the delegate on behalf of the first party, and provides the token to the delegate. The delegate sends to the second party the token and a transaction document requesting a transaction according to the agreement. The second party applies each constraint in the token against the transaction document to determine whether the transaction document satisfies each constraint. If so, the transaction document is accepted for fulfillment.

Claims

1. A method of effectuating a business relationship between a first party and a second party, the relationship being governed by an agreement between the first party and the second party, the method comprising:

creating by the first party a token that authorizes a delegate to request a transaction according to the agreement on behalf of the first party;

specifying in the token at least one constraint on a transaction requested by the delegate on behalf of the first party;

providing to the delegate the token; and

sending by the delegate to the second party the token and a transaction document requesting a transaction according to the agreement,

wherein the second party upon receiving the transaction document and the token from the delegate applies each constraint in the token against the transaction document to determine whether the transaction document satisfies each constraint and accepts the transaction document for fulfillment only if the transaction document in fact satisfies each constraint.

2. The token of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1 comprising specifying a constraint relating to a monetary value of the transaction document.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first party is a customer, the delegate is an agent of the customer that submits a purchase order (PO) on behalf of the customer, and the second party is a supplier that receives the submitted PO for fulfillment.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction document is an electronic document that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the delegate and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the token is an electronic token that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the first party and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the token includes the public key of the delegate, and wherein the second party is in possession of the public key of the first party, whereby the second party applies the public key of the first party to the signature of the token to verify same, obtains the public key of the delegate from the token, applies the public key of the delegate to the signature of the transaction document to verify same.

8. The token of claim 7.

9. The method of claim 1 organized into modules of computer-executable instructions and stored on a computer-readable medium.

10. A method of effectuating a business relationship between a first party and a second party, the relationship being governed by an agreement between the first party and the second party, the first party creating a token that authorizes a delegate to request a transaction according to the agreement on behalf of the first party, specifying in the token at least one constraint on a transaction requested by the delegate on behalf of the first party, and providing to the delegate the token, the delegate sending to the second party the token and a transaction document requesting a transaction according to the agreement, the method comprising:

receiving by the second party the transaction document and the token;

applying each constraint in the token against the transaction document to determine whether the transaction document satisfies each constraint; and

accepting the transaction document for fulfillment only if the transaction document in fact satisfies each constraint.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the first party is a customer, the delegate is an agent of the customer that submits a purchase order (PO) on behalf of the customer, and the second party is a supplier that receives the submitted PO for fulfillment.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the second party receives the transaction document and the token from the delegate by way of an automated entry system.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the transaction document is an electronic document that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the delegate and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the token is an electronic token that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the first party and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the token includes the public key of the delegate, and wherein the second party is in possession of the public key of the first party.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the public key of the first party is stored by the second party as part of an agreement document memorializing the agreement governing transactions between the first party and the second party.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising retrieving by the second party the agreement document from a plurality of agreement documents based on identifying indicia present in the transaction document.

18. The method of claim 15 further comprising, upon receiving the transaction document and token from the delegate:

applying the public key of the first party to the signature of the token to verify that the token was indeed provided by the first party to the delegate and to conclude that the delegate is authorized by the first party to submit the transaction document based on the agreement between the first party and the second party;

obtaining the public key of the delegate from the token;

applying the public key of the delegate to the signature of the transaction document to verify that the transaction document was indeed provided by the delegate and to conclude that the transaction document in fact comes from the first party by way of the delegate thereof; and

processing the transaction document for fulfillment thereof according to the agreement between the first party and the second party upon verifying the token and the transaction document.

19. The method of claim 10 organized into modules of computer-executable instructions and stored on a computer-readable medium.

20. A method of effectuating a business relationship between a first party and a second party, the relationship being governed by an agreement between the first party and the second party, the method comprising:

creating a chain of tokens between the first party and a delegate, each token being granted by a grantor to a grantee, each token authorizing the grantee to request a transaction according to the agreement on behalf of the first party, the token granted by the first party being a root token;

specifying in at least some of the tokens in the chain at least one constraint on a transaction requested by the delegate on behalf of the first party;

providing to the delegate each token in the chain; and

sending by the delegate to the second party each token in the chain and a transaction document requesting a transaction according to the agreement,

wherein the second party upon receiving the transaction document and each token in the chain from the delegate applies each constraint in each token in the chain against the transaction document to determine whether the transaction document satisfies each constraint in each token in the chain and accepts the transaction document for fulfillment only if the transaction document in fact satisfies each constraint in each token in the chain.

21. Any token in the chain of claim 20 not the root token.

22. The method of claim 20 comprising specifying a constraint relating to a monetary value of the transaction document.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the first party is a customer, the delegate is an agent of the customer that submits a purchase order (PO) on behalf of the customer, and the second party is a supplier that receives the submitted PO for fulfillment.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the transaction document is an electronic document that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the delegate and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein each token in the chain is an electronic token that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the grantor and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein each token includes the public key of the grantee, and wherein the second party is in possession of the public key of the first party, whereby the second party for each token in the chain obtains the public key of the grantor and applies same to the signature of the such token to verify same, and obtains the public key of the delegate from the token in the chain granted to the delegate and applies same to the signature of the transaction document to verify same.

27. Any token in the chain of claim 26 not the root token.

28. The method of claim 20 organized into modules of computer-executable instructions and stored on a computer-readable medium.

29. A method of effectuating a business relationship between a first party and a second party, the relationship being governed by an agreement between the first party and the second party, a chain of tokens being created between the first party and a delegate, each token being granted by a grantor to a grantee, each token authorizing the grantee to request a transaction according to the agreement on behalf of the first party, the token granted by the first party being a root token, at least some of the tokens in the chain specifying at least one constraint on a transaction requested by the delegate on behalf of the first party, the delegate being provided with each token in the chain and sending to the second party each token in the chain and a transaction document requesting a transaction according to the agreement, the method comprising:

receiving by the second party the transaction document and each token in the chain;

applying each constraint in each token of the chain against the transaction document to determine whether the transaction document satisfies each constraint in each token of the chain; and

accepting the transaction document for fulfillment only if the transaction document in fact satisfies each constraint in each token in the chain.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the first party is a customer, the delegate is an agent of the customer that submits a purchase order (PO) on behalf of the customer, and the second party is a supplier that receives the submitted PO for fulfillment.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein the second party receives the transaction document and the token from the delegate by way of an automated entry system.

32. The method of claim 29 wherein the transaction document is an electronic document that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the delegate and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein each token in the chain is an electronic token that includes a digital signature based on a private key of the grantor and is verifiable based on a corresponding public key.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein each token includes the public key of the grantee, and wherein the second party is in possession of the public key of the first party, whereby the second party for each token in the chain obtains the public key of the grantor and applies same to the signature of the such token to verify same, and obtains the public key of the delegate from the token in the chain granted to the delegate and applies same to the signature of the transaction document to verify same.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the public key of the first party is stored by the second party as part of an agreement document memorializing the agreement governing transactions between the first party and the second party.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising retrieving by the second party the agreement document from a plurality of agreement documents based on identifying indicia present in the transaction document.

37. The method of claim 29 organized into modules of computer-executable instructions and stored on a computer-readable medium.