Anti-piracy system using separate storage and alternate execution of selected proprietary and public portions of computer programs
First Claim
1. In a computer system having first and second electronic memory means which together are used to store a program comprising executable instructions, a method of protecting against unauthorized duplication of selected proprietary portions of said program, the method comprising the steps of:
- pre-storing in said first memory means prior to distribution to a system user said selected proprietary portions of said executable program, whereby said selected proprietary portions of said program are not readily susceptible to access and duplication by a system user;
pre-storing prior to distribution to a system user the remaining portion of said executable program on an external storage medium, said external storage medium being available for access and use by system users; and
when running said executable program in its entirety on said computer system, said computer system automatically performing the steps of;
(a) loading said remaining portion of the executable program from said external storage medium to said second memory means;
(b) commencing with execution, in turn, of each instruction contained in said second storage means until instructed to transfer to said first storage means;
(c) thereafter executing, in turn, the selected proprietary portions of said program stored in said first memory means;
(d) thereafter returning to said second memory means and continuing with execution of said remaining portions of the program; and
(e) repeating steps (a)-(d) until said program is completely executed.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for computer software protection includes a random access memory (RAM) device and one or more read-only memory (ROM) devices. The RAM and ROMs are connected in parallel to a data transfer bus, and to an address bus. Selected proprietary portions of a program are pre-stored in the ROMs prior to distribution to system users, and the remaining portions of the program are stored on an external storage medium such as a diskette which is made available for access and use by system users. When using the program, the portion of the program stored on the external storage medium is loaded into the RAM. In executing the program, the system commences executing, in turn, each program instruction contained in the RAM until it is instructed to transfer to one of the ROMs for execution of the proprietary portions of the program stored in the ROMs. If a system user makes an unauthorized copy of the portion of the program stored on the external storage medium, since the proprietary portions of the program are stored in the ROMs, the unauthorized copy will be incomplete and will not be able to run without the proprietary portions of the program which are maintained in the ROMs.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. In a computer system having first and second electronic memory means which together are used to store a program comprising executable instructions, a method of protecting against unauthorized duplication of selected proprietary portions of said program, the method comprising the steps of:
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pre-storing in said first memory means prior to distribution to a system user said selected proprietary portions of said executable program, whereby said selected proprietary portions of said program are not readily susceptible to access and duplication by a system user; pre-storing prior to distribution to a system user the remaining portion of said executable program on an external storage medium, said external storage medium being available for access and use by system users; and when running said executable program in its entirety on said computer system, said computer system automatically performing the steps of; (a) loading said remaining portion of the executable program from said external storage medium to said second memory means; (b) commencing with execution, in turn, of each instruction contained in said second storage means until instructed to transfer to said first storage means; (c) thereafter executing, in turn, the selected proprietary portions of said program stored in said first memory means; (d) thereafter returning to said second memory means and continuing with execution of said remaining portions of the program; and (e) repeating steps (a)-(d) until said program is completely executed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer system for protecting against unauthorized duplication of selected proprietary portions of a computer program adapted for execution on said computer system, said computer system comprising:
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a data transfer bus; a first memory means connected to said data transfer bus for accessing selected proprietary portions of said program which have been pre-stored on said first memory means prior to distribution to system users, whereby said proprietary portions are not readily susceptible to access and duplication by a system user; an external storage medium on which the remaining portion of said program is pre-stored prior to distribution to system users, said external storage medium being available for access and use by system users; a second memory means into which said remaining portion of said program is loaded from said external storage medium when it is desired to run said program on said computer system, said second memory means being connected to said data transfer bus in parallel with said first memory means; and means for controlling and selecting said first and second memory means so as to commence executing, in turn, each program instruction stored in said second memory means until instructed to transfer to said first memory means, and thereafter transferring to said first memory means and executing said selected proprietary portions of said program and then returning to said second memory means to complete the execution of said remaining portions of said program. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification