Token based club digital content licensing method

• US 20050182731A1
• Filed: 02/21/2005
• Published: 08/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Altair Engineering Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Altair Engineering Incorporated
• Inventors: Marjadi, Dhiren, Dagg, James P., Scapa, James R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,073,780 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A predetermined number of license units for each of a plurality of individually selectable pieces of digital content in a digital content suite are checked out when each piece of digital content is executed by a customer in a customer club. Execution of a requested digital content is granted when the number of license units to execute the requested digital content is less than or equal to the total number of available units for the club. Access is granted for execution of the requested digital content by a license manager based on whether the required units of the requested digital content are greater than the available units on the requesting customer computer network. If the requested digital content cannot be executed immediately, the required units can be locked up and charged to the customer club available units or left uncharged.

Claims

1. A method of accessing digital content comprising the steps of:

forming a suite of selectable digital content;

assigning a number of licensed units to each digital content in the suite of digital content;

forming at least one discrete customer group formed of at least one customer;

assigning an identification to each customer in the customer group to identify each customer as part of the one discrete customer group;

providing a total number of group licensed units to the one customer group; and

allowing access to the suite of digital content by the at least one customer in the one customer group only when a total number of available licensed units based on the difference between the total number of licensed units assigned to the one customer group and a total group checked out units for digital content in use by at least one customer the of the one customer group allows access according to a license management control.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

providing a distinct identification to a plurality of distinct customer groups, each group having at least one customer.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the steps of:

allowing each of the plurality of customer groups access to the same suite of digital content.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of:

allowing each of the plurality of customer groups access to different digital content in the suite of digital content.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming a suite of selectable digital content comprises the step of:

collecting a plurality of discrete pieces of digital content by a single source; and

the step of allowing access to the suite of digital content being performed by the single source.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing a total number of group licensed units to the one customer group comprises the step of:

purchasing the total number of group licensed units by the one customer group.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

purchasing private license units by the at least one customer in the one customer group for use only by the one customer.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of allowing access to the suite of digital content further comprises the step of:

allowing access to the suite of digital content according to the total number of available license units through the use of the private tokens.