METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROCESSING ASSETS

• US 20170331896A1
• Filed: 05/13/2016
• Published: 11/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2016
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: De La Rue International Limited (De La Rue PLC)
• Original Assignee: De La Rue International Limited (De La Rue PLC)
• Inventors: HOLLOWAY, Barry, ESTCOURT, Martin, BELLAIRS, Richard
• Application Number:
  US15/154,291
• Publication Number:
  US 20170331896A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/12 Transmitting and receiving encryption devices synchronised or initially set up in a particular manner
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for processing an asset within a supply chain includes: providing a first distributed ledger maintained by nodes within a first distributed consensus network; providing a second distributed ledger maintained by nodes within a second distributed consensus network; creating the asset by a supply chain first entity associated with at least one node within the first network, and providing a digital certificate uniquely associated with the asset for authentication; creating a first transaction record in the first distributed ledger representing an asset transfer and its associated digital certificate from the first entity to a supply chain second entity associated with at least one node within the first network; and creating a second transaction record in the second distributed ledge representing an asset transfer and its associated digital certificate from the second entity to a supply chain third entity associated with at least one node within the second network.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for processing an asset within a supply chain, the method comprising:

providing a first distributed ledger, the first distributed ledger being maintained by nodes within a first distributed consensus network;

providing a second distributed ledger, the second distributed ledger being maintained by nodes within a second distributed consensus network,

creating the asset by a first entity of the supply chain, the first entity being associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network, and providing a digital certificate uniquely associated with the asset for authentication of the asset;

creating a first transaction record in the first distributed ledger, the first transaction record representing a transfer of the asset and its associated digital certificate from the first entity to a second entity of the supply chain, the second entity being associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network; and

creating a second transaction record in the second distributed ledger, the second transaction record representing a transfer of the asset and its associated digital certificate from the second entity to a third entity of the supply chain, the third entity being associated with at least one node within the second distributed consensus network.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second distributed consensus networks are respectively implemented as one or more blockchains, and wherein the one or more blockchains of the first distributed consensus network are implemented as one or more two-way pegged sidechains to a parent chain represented by a blockchain of the second distributed consensus network.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising creating a third transaction record in the second distributed ledger, the third transaction record comprising a third transaction identifier, the asset identifier and the identifier of a fourth entity of the supply chain associated with a node within the second distributed consensus network.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising, creating a fourth transaction record respectively in the second distributed ledger, the fourth transaction record representing a transfer of the asset and its associated digital certificate from the third or fourth entity back to the second entity.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein associating the digital certificate with the asset comprises generating a unique identification code from one or more properties of the digital certificate and applying the unique identification code to the asset.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein associating the digital certificate with the asset comprises generating a unique identification code from one or more properties of the asset and incorporating the code in the digital certificate.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein providing a digital certificate comprises signing the digital certificate with a secret key of the first entity, wherein the secret key has a corresponding public key.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein a node in the second distributed consensus network is configured to access a predetermined node in the first distributed consensus network in order to authenticate an asset.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the second entity is the only entity of the supply chain associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network, which may transfer the asset and its associated digital to the third entity.

10. A system comprising a processor and a memory in communication with the processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method of claim 1.

11. A supply chain comprising a plurality of entities, wherein an asset is processed according to the method of claim 1.

12. A system for processing an asset within a supply chain comprising one or more entities, the system comprising:

a first distributed ledger being maintained by nodes within a first distributed consensus network; and

a second distributed ledger being maintained by nodes within a second distributed consensus network,

wherein a first entity associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network is configured to create an asset;

wherein the first distributed ledger being is configured to record a first transaction record representing a transfer of the asset from the first entity to a second entity of the supply chain; and

wherein the second distributed ledger is configured to record a second transaction record representing a transfer of the asset from the second entity to a third entity of the supply chain, the third entity being associated with at least one node within the second distributed consensus network,

wherein only the second entity is the only entity of the supply chain associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network, which may transfer the asset and its associated digital to the third entity,

wherein the second entity is the only entity of the supply chain associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network, which may transfer the asset and its associated digital to the third entity.

13. A system according to claim 12, wherein the first entity is further configured to provide a digital certificate uniquely associated with the asset for authentication of the asset.

14. A system according to claim 13, implementing a method for processing an asset within a supply chain, the method comprising:

providing a first distributed ledger, the first distributed edger being maintained by nodes within a first distributed consensus network;

providing a second distributed ledger, the second distributed ledger being maintained by nodes within a second distributed consensus network,

creating the asset by a first entity of the supply chain, the first entity being associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network, and providing a digital certificate uniquely associated with the asset for authentication of the asset;

creating a first transaction record in the first distributed ledger, the first transaction record representing a transfer of the asset and its associated digital certificate from the first entity to a second entity of the supply chain, the second entity being associated with at least one node within the first distributed consensus network; and

.

creating a second transaction record in the second distributed ledger, the second transaction record representing a transfer of the asset and its associated digital certificate from the second entity to a third entity of the supply chain, the third entity being associated with at least one node within the second distributed consensus network.