Global positioning system hardware key for software licenses
First Claim
1. A method for determining whether an intended use of a computational component is permitted, comprising:
- (a) determining a geographic location of a key device in communication with and physically separate from the computational component, the key device containing a location module for determining wirelessly geographic location relative to a selected coordinate system;
(b) comparing the determined geographic location with at least one predetermined permitted geographic location permitted by a license; and
(c) when the determined geographic location is not a permitted geographic location under the license, determining that use of the computational component is not permitted.
24 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for validating a license to use a computational component, comprising (a) a GPS module 108 to determine one or more of GPS timing information and a geographic location of at least one of the computational component 400 and a key device 100 in communication with the computational component 400 and (b) a validation agent 128 and/or 404 operable to (a) compare the GPS timing information against the license expiration date and/or compare the geographic location with at least one predetermined geographic location permitted by the license and (b), when the GPS timing information is outside of the permissible license term and/or when the geographic location is not a permitted geographic location under the license, determine that the computational component 400 is not validly licensed.
171 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method for determining whether an intended use of a computational component is permitted, comprising:
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(a) determining a geographic location of a key device in communication with and physically separate from the computational component, the key device containing a location module for determining wirelessly geographic location relative to a selected coordinate system; (b) comparing the determined geographic location with at least one predetermined permitted geographic location permitted by a license; and (c) when the determined geographic location is not a permitted geographic location under the license, determining that use of the computational component is not permitted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for validating a license to use a computational component, comprising:
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a locating module to determine, wirelessly, a geographic location relative to a selected coordinate system of a key device containing the module, the key device being physically separate from and in communication with the computational component; and a validation agent operable to (a) compare the determined geographic location with at least one predetermined permitted geographic location permitted by the license and (b) when the determined geographic location is not a permitted geographic location under the license, determine that the computational component is not validly licensed. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for validating a license to use a computational component, comprising:
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(a) providing a key device to validate the license when in communication with the computational component, the key device being physically separate from and connected to the computational component; (b) a licensing validation agent in the computational component determining whether the key device is local to the computational component; and (c) when the key device is not local to the computational component, the licensing validation agent in the computational component determining that the computational component is not validly licensed. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification