Digital document authentication system
First Claim
1. A method for processing a plurality of digital documents comprising the step of electronically generating a repository of hashed digital values in the form of a directed acyclic graph having nodes, each node comprising a hash value dependent on at least one of said digital documents, and the repository having a secured value comprising a hash value derived from more than one of said digital documents and generating a location pointer in the repository for one of the plurality of digital documents and naming said one digital document to provide a self-verifying name for said one digital document.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process for time-stamping a digital document is provided. The process provides a certificate which not only allows for the authentication of a document at a later time but which includes a name or nickname which allows for the unique identification of the document at a later time. The name or nickname provided in accordance with the present invention is not only simple and concise but allows for the self-authentication of the document which it refers to. The name can be used when two independent parties desire to refer to the same unique document in a quick and simple way.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. A method for processing a plurality of digital documents comprising the step of electronically generating a repository of hashed digital values in the form of a directed acyclic graph having nodes, each node comprising a hash value dependent on at least one of said digital documents, and the repository having a secured value comprising a hash value derived from more than one of said digital documents and generating a location pointer in the repository for one of the plurality of digital documents and naming said one digital document to provide a self-verifying name for said one digital document.
- 2. A certificate for a digital document, the certificate generated by processing a plurality of digital documents by electronically generating a repository of digital hash values in the form of a directed acyclic graph having nodes, wherein each of said nodes in the repository is determined by a hash value of at least one of said digital documents and generating a location pointer in the repository for one of the plurality of digital documents and naming said one digital document to provide a self-verifying name for said one digital document.
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5. A method for validating a first digital document purported to be a true copy of a previously registered second digital document, wherein the second digital document was registered by generating a certificate including a self-verifying name, self-verifying hash values for the second document, and associated location values for said self-verifying hash values wherein the self-verifying name comprises a combination of said location values and an identifier of a secure hash value, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing the secure hash value determined at least in part by the hash value of the second document; (b) hashing the first digital document to provide a first digital document hash value; (c) hashing and combining the first digital document hash value with said self-verifying hash values according to said location values; and (d) determining whether a resulting hash value from step (c) corresponds to the secure hash value. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of registering a first digital document for authentication, comprising the steps of:
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a. transmitting from an author to a service bureau, a first request for registering the first digital document, the first request including a representation of the first digital document; b. receiving at the service bureau the first request for registering the first digital document; c. receiving at the service bureau a plurality of other requests for registering other digital documents, each request including a representation of one of the plurality of other digital documents; d. the service bureau combining the first request with at least one of the plurality of other requests to form a first value; e. the service bureau hashing the first value to generate a first hash value; f. the service bureau forming a repository of a plurality of hash values including said first hash value, the repository depending on the first request and the plurality of other requests; g. securing the repository by publishing an item in the depository, the item determined at least in part by a request; h. the service bureau generating a location pointer in the repository for the first digital document, and i. the service bureau providing a self-verifying name to the digital document by using the location pointer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for naming a first digital document, comprising the steps of:
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a. transmitting from an author to a service bureau a first request for naming the first digital document, the first request including a representation of the first digital document; b. the service bureau receiving the first request; c. receiving at the service bureau a plurality of other requests for naming digital documents, each request including a representation of one of the plurality of other digital documents; d. the service bureau combining the first request with at least one of the plurality of requests to form a first value; e. the service bureau hashing the first value to generate a first hash value; f. the service bureau forming a repository of a plurality of hash values including said first hash value, the repository being in the form of a directed acyclic graph having nodes, each node comprising a hash value dependent on at least one of said requests, and said repository also having a secured item comprising a hash value dependent on a plurality of said requests; g. the service bureau generating a location pointer in the repository for the first digital document; and h. the service bureau naming said first digital document using said location pointer to provide a self-verifying name for said first digital document. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method for time stamping a first digital document, comprising the steps of:
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a. preparing a first request to time stamp the first digital document, the request including a hash value of the first digital document; b. combining the first request with a second hash value to generate a composite digital value, the second hash value being dependent at least in part on a second digital document; c. hashing the composite digital value to generate a first composite hash value; and d. forming a repository of hashed digital values including the first composite hash value, the repository being a directed acyclic graph having nodes, each node comprising a hash value which is dependent on at least one received request, and the repository also having a secured item comprising a hash value dependent at least in part on at least one of the received requests; and e. providing a unique, self-verifying name for the first digital document by; i. securing an item in the repository; ii. generating an identifier for the secured item; and iii. providing the unique, self-verifying name for the first digital document using the identifier and location values related to a location of the first digital document with respect to the secured item. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. A certificate providing a unique, self-verifying name to a first digital document, the certificate being generated by:
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a. hashing the first digital document to generate a first hash value; b. combining the first hash value with a second hash value dependent on at least one other digital document to generate a first combined value; c. hashing the first combined value to generate a first combined hash value; d. forming a repository of a plurality of hash values in the form of a directed acyclic graph having nodes, each node comprising a hash value dependent on at least one of said digital documents, the repository comprising a secure value derived from a hash value of at least one of said digital documents; e. generating self-verifying hash values and associated location values in said repository for the first digital document; and f. naming said first digital document using said location values to provide a self-verifying name for the first digital document.
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Specification