Method of controlling use of digitally encoded products
First Claim
1. A method of controlling use of a digitally encoded product on a data processing system including the step of:
- providing, to the data processing system, a product license certificate indicative of an authorization granted to use the product, wherein the license certificate identifies basic conditions of use of the product as initially authorized by a provider of the product and a list of allowed changes to the basic conditions of use of the product,monitoring operation of the data processing system for detecting a condition of use of the product,providing reconciliation information indicative of the detected condition of use over a corresponding period of time to a controller system, andautomatically updating licensing information stored on the controller system, and indicative of a licensing condition of the product, according to the reconciliation information, wherein updating licensing information comprises modifying a previous licensing condition for the corresponding period of time to be a modified licensing condition that corresponds to the detected condition of use of the product as identified by the reconciliation information, and wherein the modified licensing condition governs a relationship between a user of the product and a provider of the product for the corresponding period of time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method (400) of controlling use of a software product (or equivalent digitally encoded products) on a data processing system of a customer by a supplier of the product. The method includes the steps of monitoring (433–447) operation of the customer system for detecting a condition of use of the product (such as the number of end-users running the product simultaneously), providing (450–462) reconciliation information indicative of the detected condition of use over a corresponding period of time to a data processing system of the supplier (for example periodically sending a corresponding message through the INTERNET), and updating (471–480) licensing information stored on the supplier system and indicative of a licensing condition of the product according to the reconciliation information.
132 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of controlling use of a digitally encoded product on a data processing system including the step of:
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providing, to the data processing system, a product license certificate indicative of an authorization granted to use the product, wherein the license certificate identifies basic conditions of use of the product as initially authorized by a provider of the product and a list of allowed changes to the basic conditions of use of the product, monitoring operation of the data processing system for detecting a condition of use of the product, providing reconciliation information indicative of the detected condition of use over a corresponding period of time to a controller system, and automatically updating licensing information stored on the controller system, and indicative of a licensing condition of the product, according to the reconciliation information, wherein updating licensing information comprises modifying a previous licensing condition for the corresponding period of time to be a modified licensing condition that corresponds to the detected condition of use of the product as identified by the reconciliation information, and wherein the modified licensing condition governs a relationship between a user of the product and a provider of the product for the corresponding period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15)
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11. A computer program, on a computer readable medium, directly loadable into a working memory of a data processing system for performing a method of controlling use of a digitally encoded product on the data processing system including:
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providing a product license certificate indicative of an authorization granted to use the product, wherein the license certificate identifies basic conditions of use of the product as initially authorized by a provider of the product and a list of allowed changes to the basic conditions of use of the product, monitoring operation of the data processing system for detecting a condition of use of the product, providing reconciliation information indicative of the detected condition of use over a corresponding period of time to a controller system of a controller, and automatically updating licensing information stored on the controller system, and indicative of a licensing condition of the product, according to the reconciliation information, wherein updating licensing information comprises modifying a previous licensing condition for the corresponding period of time to be a modified licensing condition that corresponds to the detected condition of use of the product as identified by the reconciliation information, and wherein the modified licensing condition governs a relationship between a user of the product and a provider of the product for the corresponding period of time. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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12. A structure for controlling use of a digitally encoded product on a data processing system including:
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means for providing a product license certificate, to the system, indicative of an authorization granted to use the product, wherein the license certificate identifies basic conditions of use of the product as initially authorized by a provider of the product and a list of allowed changes to the basic conditions of use of the product, means for monitoring operation of the data processing system for detecting a condition of use of the product, means for providing reconciliation information indicative of the detected condition of use over a corresponding period of time to a controller system, and means for automatically updating licensing information stored on the controller system and indicative of a licensing condition of the product according to the reconciliation information, wherein the means for updating licensing information comprises means for modifying a previous licensing condition for the corresponding period of time to be a modified licensing condition that corresponds to the detected condition of use of the product as identified by the reconciliation information, and wherein the modified licensing condition governs a relationship between a user of the product and a provider of the product for the corresponding period of time. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification