Digital Certificate
First Claim
1. A method of creating a digitally stored digital certificate, the method comprising the steps:
- selecting a given character set;
designating from said given character set a protected area border character;
providing said certificate as a sequence of members of said given character set;
defining in said certificate a protected area as members of said given character set located between one and a next occurrence of said protected area border character;
storing at least one digital component in said protected area;
calculating a digital value as a function of digital content stored in said protected area; and
storing a digital signature in said certificate but outside said protected area, said digital signature being encrypted and a function of said value.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A digital certificate includes framing characters defining a protected area. The protected area contains a selected set of components, including text-based components and binary-based components, and the certificate serves as a transport container for such components. A message digest or hashing algorithm applied to the protected area provides consistent results despite modifications to the certificate outside the protected area. A digital signature provides authentication of source and content integrity. Digital certificates under the present invention may be applied to a variety of purposes including but not limited to proof of ownership, gift certificates, upgrade purchases, and other applications where verification of source and content integrity are desirable.
232 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of creating a digitally stored digital certificate, the method comprising the steps:
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selecting a given character set;
designating from said given character set a protected area border character;
providing said certificate as a sequence of members of said given character set;
defining in said certificate a protected area as members of said given character set located between one and a next occurrence of said protected area border character;
storing at least one digital component in said protected area;
calculating a digital value as a function of digital content stored in said protected area; and
storing a digital signature in said certificate but outside said protected area, said digital signature being encrypted and a function of said value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A digitally stored digital certificate comprising:
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a digital storage medium;
a digital certificate data structure stored upon said storage medium, said data structure defining a protected area as including a sequence of characters occurring between one and a next occurrence of a designated protected area border character;
at least one digital component stored in said protected area; and
a digital signature stored in said certificate data structure but outside said protected area, said digital signature being encrypted and a function of said at least one digital component stored in said protected area. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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- 21. A digital certificate according to claim 21 wherein said data field is a binary-based data converted from a binary data set to a restricted character set.
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29. A digitally stored digital certificate of product ownership of a given product by a given product owner, said certificate comprising:
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a digital storage medium;
a digital certificate data structure stored upon said storage medium, said data structure defining a protected area as including a sequence of characters occurring between one and a next accurrence of a designated protected area border character,;
a first digital component stored in said protected area and identifying said given product;
a second digital component stored in said protected area and identifying said given product owner; and
a digital signature in said certificate data structure but outside said protected area, said digital signature being encrypted and a function of at least said first and second components stored in said protected area. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification