METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACTIVATING A SOFTWARE APPLICATION WHILE PROVISIONING SERVICES FOR THE APPLICATION

• US 20140032350A1
• Filed: 11/19/2009
• Published: 01/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Biswas, Sanjeev Kumar, Jain, Akash
• Granted Patent: US 9,299,075 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1011 to devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/125 by manipulating the program code, e.g. source code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Methods and systems for activating a software application while provisioning a web service to operate with the software application are described. Consistent with some embodiments, a product activation procedure is performed during a workflow to provision a web service to operate with a software application. By activating the software application during the web service provisioning workflow, an end-user can establish ownership of a proper license for the software application without having to input any license information, such as a serial number or product key, associated with the end-user'"'"'s license.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

communicating a web service provisioning call to a web service executing on a first server computer, the web service provisioning call for provisioning the web service for use with a software application and performing a product activation operation, the web service provisioning call including user authentication information, a machine signature, and a product identifier identifying the software application installed on a computer system identified by the machine signature;

subsequent to communicating the web service provisioning call to the we service, receiving license information associated with a license for the software application from the web service executing on the first server computer;

communicating an activation request to a license manager module executing on a second server computer, the activation request including the license information associated with the license for the software application; and

receiving an indication from the license manager module executing on the second server computer that the software application has been activated.

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

receiving an indication from the web service that the web service has been provisioned for use with the software application.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after receiving the indication from the license server that the software application has been activated, enabling functionality of the software application that is dependent upon the software application being activated.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the license information is received from a license server as a result of the license server having verified that an existing license exists for the software application for use on the computer system identified by the machine signature.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the license information is received from a license server as a result of the license server having verified that an existing license, not yet associated with the computer system identified by the machine signature, is available to the end-user.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to receiving license information associated with a license for the software application, prompting for payment information for purchasing the license for the software application.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after receiving an indication from the license server that the software application has been activated, updating a license status database to indicate the software application has been activated.

8. A processing system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a machine-readable medium in communication with the at least one processor, the machine readable medium storing a software application having a web service provisioning module that is executable by the at least one processor, the web service provisioning module being executable by the at least one processor to cause operations to be performed, the operations comprising;

communicating a web service provisioning call to a web service executing on a first server computer, the web service provisioning call to provision the web service for machine signature, and a product identifier identifying a software application installed on a computer system identified by the machine signature;

subsequent to communicating the web service provisioning call, receiving license information associated with a license for the software application from the web service executing on the first server computer;

communicating an activation request to a license manager module executing on a second server computer, the activation request including the license information associated with the license for the software application; and

receiving an indication from the license manager module executing on the second server computer that the software application has been activated.

9. The processing system of claim 8, wherein the web service provisioning call is to provision the web service for use with the software application, and the web service provisioning module is to receive an indication from the web service that the web service has been provisioned for use with the software application.

10. The processing system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

after receiving the indication from the license server that the software application has been activated, enabling functionality of the software application that is dependent upon the software application being activated.

11. The processing system of claim 8, wherein the license information is received from a license server as a result of the license server having verified that an existing license exists for the software application for use on the computer system identified by the machine signature.

12. The processing system of claim 8, wherein the license information is received from a license server as a result of the license server having verified that an existing license, not yet associated with the computer system identified by the machine signature, is available to the end-user.

13. The processing system of claim 8, further comprising:

prior to receiving license information associated with a license for the software application, prompting a user to provide payment information for purchasing the license for the software application.

14. The processing system of claim 8, further comprising:

after receiving an indication from the license server that the software application has been activated, updating a license status database to indicate the software application has been activated.

15. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions thereon, which, when executed by a computer system cause the computer system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

communicating a web service provisioning call to a web service, the web service provisioning call including end-user authentication information, a machine signature, and a product identifier identifying a software application installed on a computer system identified by the machine signature;

receiving license information associated with a license for the software application in response to the web service provisioning call;

communicating an activation request to a license server, the activation request including the license information associated with the license for the software application; and

receiving an indication from the license server that the software application has been activated.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the web service provisioning call is to provision the web service for use with the software application, the method further comprising:

receiving an indication from the web service that the web service has been provisioned for use with the software application.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

after receiving the indication from the license server that the software application has been activated, enabling functionality of the software application that is dependent upon the software application being activated.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the license information is received from a license server as a result of the license server having verified that an existing license exists for the software application for use on the computer system identified by the machine signature.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the license information is received from a license server as a result of the license server having verified that an existing license, not yet associated with the computer system identified by the machine signature, is available to the end-user.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

prior to receiving license information associated with a license for the software application, prompting a user to provide payment information for purchasing the license for the software application.