Software license management system configurable for post-use payment business models
First Claim
1. A software license management system configurable for post-use payment business models, comprising:
- front-end server configured to control usage of licensed software, generate an authenticatable report including information of said usage according to a report schedule, and securely transmit said authenticatable report to a designated destination; and
back-end server corresponding to said designated destination and configured to receive, authenticate, and process said authenticatable report to generate processed information, and provide said processed information to business operations software for post-use payment business model purposes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A software license management system configurable for post-use payment business models is described. A front-end server is configured to control usage of licensed software distributed on computers within a network including the front-end server, generate an authenticatable report of such usage according to a report schedule, and securely transmit the authenticatable report to a vendor designated destination. A back-end server corresponding to the destination is configured to receive, authenticate, and process the authenticatable report to generate processed information, and provide the processed information to business operations software for post-use payment business model purposes and other business operation purposes for software vendors.
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Citations
81 Claims
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1. A software license management system configurable for post-use payment business models, comprising:
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front-end server configured to control usage of licensed software, generate an authenticatable report including information of said usage according to a report schedule, and securely transmit said authenticatable report to a designated destination; and
back-end server corresponding to said designated destination and configured to receive, authenticate, and process said authenticatable report to generate processed information, and provide said processed information to business operations software for post-use payment business model purposes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A software license management system configurable for post-use payment business models, comprising:
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means for generating an authenticatable report including information of usage of said licensed software by a customer according to a report schedule, and securely transmitting said authenticatable report to a destination designated by a vendor of said licensed software; and
means corresponding to said destination for receiving, authenticating, and processing said authenticatable report to generate processed information to be provided to business operations software for post-use payment business model purposes. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for reporting usage of licensed software for post-use payment business model purposes, comprising:
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generating an authenticatable report including information of usage of licensed software by a licensee according to a report schedule;
transmitting said authenticatable report from a customer designated source to a vendor designated destination;
receiving and authenticating said authenticatable report at said vendor designated destination; and
if authenticated, generating processed information from said authenticated report to be provided to business operations software for post-use payment business model purposes. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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- 45. An apparatus comprising at least one computer configured to conditionally allow overusage of licensed software beyond license terms, generate an authenticatable report including information of said overusage, and transmit said authenticatable report to a destination for post-use payment business model purposes.
- 57. A method for reporting usage of licensed software, comprising providing a software module adapted to generate a plurality of authenticatable reports at scheduled times such that individual of said plurality of authenticatable reports includes information of usage of licensed software for a plurality of time periods that overlap with immediately prior and succeeding ones of said plurality of authenticatable reports generated by said software module.
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60. A method for reporting usage of licensed software, comprising providing a software module adapted to generate an authenticatable report including information of usage of licensed software organized such that total time over a reporting period when N, N−
- 1, N−
2, and so on down to M of a counted computer resource were active using a particular feature of the licensed software, wherein N is a maximum number of said counted computer resource concurrently using said feature in said reporting period and M is an integer greater than or equal to zero. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
- 1, N−
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67. A method for reporting usage of licensed software, comprising providing a software module adapted to generate an authenticatable report including information of usage of licensed software organized such that total time over a reporting period when N, N−
- 1, N−
2, and so on down to M users who are active using a particular feature of the licensed software, wherein N is a maximum number of said users concurrently using said feature in said reporting period and M is an integer greater than or equal to zero.
- 1, N−
- 68. An apparatus comprising at least one computer configured to securely receive an authenticatable report including information of overusage of licensed software, authenticate said authenticatable report, and store information from said authenticated authenticatable report so as to be available to business operations software for post-use payment business model purposes.
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80. A method for implementing a post-use payment business model, comprising:
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receiving an authenticatable report including information of usage of licensed software;
authenticating said authenticatable report; and
processing said information of said usage of said licensed software to identify instances where said usage has exceeded license terms by a predetermined amount so as to trigger a post-use payment request. - View Dependent Claims (81)
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Specification