Dynamic software licensing and purchase architecture
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving over a network a request to install a software application on a client data processing system, wherein the request includes desired characteristics of the software application;
querying a registry via a service discovery protocol to identify a set of software applications exhibiting the desired characteristics;
obtaining a user selection of a particular software application from the set of software applications;
initiating purchase of a license for the particular software application at a purchase server;
initiating installation of the particular software application at the client data processing system; and
updating a license database to indicate that the software application is licensed for use.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method, computer program product, and data processing system for supporting application-generic licensing and purchasing of software in an intranet or internet in disclosed. A client license application resides on a client computer. The client license application cooperates with a software delivery server to install new software. The software delivery server uses a resource discovery protocol to identify software applications meeting requirements of the client license application. The software delivery server initiates the purchase of licenses at a purchase server and the installation of the software on the client computer.
A license database is used to keep track of software licensed for use by particular users, organizations, or data processing systems. The software delivery server provides the additional feature of periodically consulting the license database to determine whether to notify a user of an expired or soon-to-expire software license or new versions of software that may replace currently installed versions.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving over a network a request to install a software application on a client data processing system, wherein the request includes desired characteristics of the software application;
querying a registry via a service discovery protocol to identify a set of software applications exhibiting the desired characteristics;
obtaining a user selection of a particular software application from the set of software applications;
initiating purchase of a license for the particular software application at a purchase server;
initiating installation of the particular software application at the client data processing system; and
updating a license database to indicate that the software application is licensed for use. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer program product in a computer-readable medium comprising functional descriptive material that, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform acts including:
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receiving over a network a request to install a software application on a client data processing system, wherein the request includes desired characteristics of the software application;
querying a registry via a service discovery protocol to identify a set of software applications exhibiting the desired characteristics;
obtaining a user selection of a particular software application from the set of software applications;
initiating purchase of a license for the particular software application at a purchase server;
initiating installation of the particular software application at the client data processing system; and
updating a license database to indicate that the software application is licensed for use. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A data processing system comprising:
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receiving means for receiving over a network a request to install a software application on a client data processing system, wherein the request includes desired characteristics of the software application;
querying means for querying a registry via a service discovery protocol to identify a set of software applications exhibiting the desired characteristics;
obtaining means for obtaining a user selection of a particular software application from the set of software applications;
first initiating means for initiating purchase of a license for the particular software application at a purchase server;
second initiating means for initiating installation of the particular software application at the client data processing system; and
updating means for updating a license database to indicate that the software application is licensed for use. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification