Apparatus and method for electronic document certification and verification

• US 6,327,656 B2
• Filed: 07/02/1997
• Issued: 12/04/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Timestamp.com Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Timestamp.com Incorporated
• Inventors: Zabetian, Mahboud
• Primary Examiner(s): Chung, Phung M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Callahan, Paul E.
• Application Number:
  US08/886,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20010011350A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,616 Days
• Field of Search: 380/23, 380/25, 380/49, 380/30, 380/4, 380/260, 380/285, 380/28, 705/75, 705/76, 713/150, 713/168, 713/169, 713/179, 713/155, 713/161, 713/176, 713/177
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3297 involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps

Abstract

The certification of electronic documents for subsequent verification and authentication is disclosed. Pursuant to a request to certify a document, a digital signature is extracted from the document. The digital signature corresponds to the content of the document and is unique to the document. Thus, signatures extracted from documents that are even slightly different from the certified document, or from a document that has been changed, will be different. A certification provider maintains the digital certification signature, an identification code such as a serial number, and other information such as the time and date of certification. The serial number is returned to the certification requester. When verification is sought, the serial number and the document alleged to have been certified are given to the certification provider. The serial number is used to index the previously extracted digital certification signature. The same extraction process is used to extract a signature from the document alleged to have been certified. Then the digital signatures are compared. A match indicates that the alleged document and the previously certified one are the same, and a mismatch indicates the opposite. The certification can be used to provide an electronic timestamp for a document, thus providing proof of possession of the document at the time of certification. It can also be used in conjunction with an electronic mail transmission to a third party recipient, thus providing certified electronic mail.

Claims

1. A method for electronically certifying, verifying, and forwarding electronic documents, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to process an electronic document from a requester;

determining from the request to process whether the request to process is a request type certification, a request type verification, or a request type forwarding;

extracting from the request to process a digital certification signature that is unique to the electronic document in response to determining that the request to process is a request type certification;

creating a certification identifier that is associated with the digital certification signature;

permanently maintaining information about the electronic document in a database for later verification, the information including the digital certification signature, the time and date of receipt of the request and an association between the certification identifier and the digital certification signature; and

transmitting the certification identifier to the requester.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the requester is registered prior to proceeding with document processing.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the requester is registered is performed using a Public Key Infrastructure.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a time and date of document certification to the requester with the certification identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to process is received via simple mail transfer protocol as an electronic mail message with the electronic document as an attachment.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request to process includes receiving a request that has been generated by a Java™

applet.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital certification signature is extracted by a Java script.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital certification signature is extracted from the request to process by producing a message digest 5 checksum of the electronic document.

6. The method of claim I, wherein the request to process and the electronic document are received via a website.

10. A method for electronically certifying, verifying, and forwarding electronic documents, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to process an electronic document from a requester;

determining from the request to process whether the request to process is a request type certification, a request type verification, or a request type forwarding;

extracting from the request to process a received certification identifier that is associated with the electronic document being verified in response to determining that the request to process is a request type verification;

extracting from the electronic document a first certification digital signature that is unique to the electronic document being verified;

locating in a database of permanently maintained information about previously certified electronic documents a second certification digital signature associated with the received certification identifier;

comparing the first certification digital signature with the second certification digital signature; and

transmitting a comparison report to the requester.

11. A method for electronically certifying, verifying, and forwarding electronic documents, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to process an electronic document from a requester;

determining from the request to process whether the request to process is a request type certification, a request type verification, or a request type forwarding;

extracting from the request to process a recipient address in response to determining that the request to process is a request type forwarding;

extracting from the electronic document a digital certification signature unique to the electronic document;

creating a certification identifier that is associated with the digital certification signature;

permanently maintaining information about the electronic document in a database for later verification, the information including the digital certification signature, the time and date of receipt of the request to forward, and an association between the certification identifier and the digital certification signature;

transmitting the certification identifier to the requester; and

transmitting the electronic document, the certification identifier, and a certified mail notice to the recipient address.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the request to process is received via simple mail transfer protocol as an electronic mail message with the electronic document as an attachment.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving the electronic mail message at a certification address;

searching the electronic mail message to locate the recipient address; and

in response to locating the recipient address, transmitting the electronic mail message with the electronic document to the recipient address, and sending a confirmation message including the forwarding identifier to the requester.

14. A computer system for processing certification requests, verification requests and forwarding requests for electronic documents, the computer system comprising:

a central processing unit for making registration determinations, certification determinations, verification determinations and forwarding determinations;

a communication module to establish a network connection and receiving data from clients, the communication module communicatively coupled to the central processing unit for communicating with the clients;

a certification module for processing the certification requests, the certification module communicatively coupled to the central processing unit for receiving signals in response to the central processing unit making the certification determinations, and the certification module further communicatively coupled to the communication module for communicating with the clients;

a verification module for processing the verification requests, the verification module communicatively coupled to the central processing unit for receiving signals in response to the central processing unit making the verification determinations, and the verification module further communicatively coupled to the communication module for communicating with the clients;

a signature generation module to generate unique signatures for the electronic documents, the signature generation module communicatively coupled to the certification module to provide the unique signatures for the electronic documents in response to the communication module receiving the certification requests; and

a certification data module to maintain database records for permanently storing information about the electronic documents, the information including the unique signatures for the electronic documents, and receiving time and date of the requests, the certification data module communicatively coupled to the certification module for receiving the unique signatures for the electronic documents, further communicatively coupled to the central processing unit for obtaining the time and date of the certification requests and the forwarding requests, and the certification data module further communicatively coupled to the verification module for providing the information about the electronic documents in response to the verification requests.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

a registration module for generating and verifying clients'"'"' registration information, the registration module communicatively coupled to the central processing unit, the central processing unit signaling the certification module upon making the registration determinations, and the registration module further communicatively coupled to the communication module for communicating with the clients.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the certification module further includes routines for receiving an electronic mail message at a certification address;

scanning the electronic mail message to locate a recipient address;

sending the electronic mail message with the electronic document to the recipient address; and

sending a confirmation message including the certification identifier to the clients.

17. An apparatus for electronically certifying, verifying, and forwarding electronic documents, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a request to process an electronic document from a requester;

means for determining from the request to process whether the request to process is a request type certification, a request type verification, or a request type forwarding;

means for extracting from the request to process a digital certification signature that is unique to the electronic document in response to determining that the request to process is a request type certification;

means for creating a certification identifier that is associated with the digital certification signature;

means for permanently maintaining information about the electronic document in a database for later verification, the information including the digital certification signature, the time and date of receipt of the request and an association between the certification identifier and the digital certification signature; and

means for transmitting the certification identifier to the requester.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for determining whether the requester is registered prior to proceeding with document processing.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising:

means for extracting from the request to process a recipient address in response to determining that the request to process is a request type forwarding; and

means for transmitting the electronic document, the certification identifier, and a certified mail notice to the recipient address.

20. An apparatus for electronically certifying, verifying, and forwarding electronic documents, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a request to process an electronic document from a requester;

means for determining from the request to process whether the request to process is a request type certification, a request type verification, or a request type forwarding;

means for extracting from the request to process a received certification identifier that is associated with the electronic document being verified in response to determining that the request to process is a request type verification;

means for extracting from the electronic document a first certification digital signature that is unique to the electronic document being verified;

means for locating in a database of permanently maintained information about previously certified electronic documents a second certification digital signature associated with the received certification identifier;

means for comparing the first certification digital signature with the second certification digital signature; and

means for transmitting a comparison report to the requester.