Sequence-acitvated applications

• US 20090019541A1
• Filed: 11/30/2004
• Published: 01/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Fontijn, Wilhelmus Franciscus
• Application Number:
  US10/582,063
• Publication Number:
  US 20090019541A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards

Abstract

A device (1; 1′) or an application (3) may be activated by supplying a series of activation codes. The device checks whether each code is received in a predetermined order and within a certain time period. If the check fails, the device or the application may be terminated. The codes may be stored on tokens (2), such as cards or optical information carriers. The device or the application may be a toy, such as a virtual or mechanical pet.

Claims

1. A device (1) arranged for receiving activation codes (20) and carrying out a check, for each activation code, whether the code was received in a predetermined order and within a certain time period, the device further being arranged for de-activating an application if the check fails.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the application controls the device itself.

3. The device according to claim 1, further being arranged for receiving the activation codes by reading at least one token (2).

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein each token (2) contains a single activation code (20).

5. The device according to claim 3, wherein the token (2) is re-writable.

6. The device according to claim 3, wherein the token (2) is an optical information carrier, preferably an SFFO disc.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the activation codes (20) are constituted by strings of alphanumeric characters each comprising a serial number and/or a version number.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the application is a software application executed by the device.

9. A toy comprising a device (1) according to claim 1, the toy preferably comprising an artificial pet.

10. A mobile telephone comprising a device (1) according to claim 1.

11. An optical information carrier (2) for use in a device (1) according to claim 1.

12. A method of de-activating an application (3) or a device (1), the method comprising:

receiving activation codes (20),

carrying out a check, for each activation code, whether the code was received in a predetermined order and within a certain time period, and

de-activating the application or the device if the check fails.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the device receives an activation code by reading a token (2).

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the token (2) is an optical information carrier, preferably an SFFO disc.