Electronic notary

• US 7,660,988 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2002
• Issued: 02/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cognomina Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cognomina Incorporated
• Inventors: Davis, J. Charles, Laird, Craig, Ashley, Scottie, Carmichael, Pat
• Primary Examiner(s): Korzuch; William R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moorthy; Aravind K
• Application Number:
  US10/100,523
• Publication Number:
  US 20030177360A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,885 Days
• Field of Search: 713/170
• US Class Current: 713/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823

Abstract

A process is disclosed for notarizing a document, by a client in the presence of a notary, comprising the steps of registering the notary, the client and the document, from a local workstation coupled to a central office, to provide for assigning at least one respective encryption key for identifying each of the notary, the client and the document to be notarized; associating in the central office, the respective encryption keys of the client with the notary and with the; generating a transaction code, based on the step of associating the respective encryption keys, for authorizing execution of the to provide the notarizing; executing the; and embedding selected ones of the respective encryption keys together with a notary seal in the document.

Claims

1. A process for notarizing at least one document in accordance with an official notarization process recognized by government agencies, by a client in the physical presence of a notary, which notary possess a fiducial relationship with the government agency, comprising the steps of:

registering the notary, the client and the at least one document, from a local workstation coupled to a central office via a global communication network while the notary and client are both physically present in their respective persons thereat, to provide for assigning at least one respective encryption key to each of the notary, the client and the at least one document to be notarized, wherein the central office as a result of the step of registering will have stored thereat information associated with both the client and the notary representing indicia that is associated with a notarized document as the result of a notarization process being carried out with the client and the notary at the local station;

associating in a first database in the central office, the encryption keys of the client with the encryption keys of the notary and with the encryption keys of the at least one document in response to the notary and the client initiating a notarization process on the local workstation;

generating a transaction code, based on the step of associating the respective encryption keys, for authorizing execution of the at least one document to provide for the notarizing of the at least one document, and transmitting the transaction code from the central office to the local workstation;

executing the at least one document by the client by executing the transaction code to cause the central office to associate with the at least one document at the central office the indicia of both the client and the notary; and

embedding with the document at least a selected one of the respective encryption keys in association with the indicia of both the client and the notary already associated with the at least one document, wherein the step of embedding and executing occurs at the local station with the notary and client present during the transaction.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

storing the executed document with the embedded encryption keys in an archive database at the central office.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of registering comprises the steps of:

inputting a request for a notarizing transaction at the workstation;

transmitting information representing the notary, the client or the at least one document from the local workstation to the central office;

assigning a respective asymmetric encryption key pair to the notary, the client or the at least one document transmitting the information;

transmitting to the workstation a select one of the respective asymmetric key pair to the notary, the client or the at least one document transmitting the information; and

storing an unselected one of the respective asymmetric key pair for the notary, the client or the at least one document in the first database at the central office.

4. The process of claim 3, wherein the step of transmitting information comprises the steps of:

inputting the information to the local workstation;

processing the information for transmitting via the global communication network; and

cross-checking in the central office the received information representing the notary, the client or the at least one document.

5. The process of claim 3, wherein the information comprises:

identification information about the notary, or the client, or text and image information contained in the at least one document; and

a signature graphic of the signature of the notary or the client.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein the central office comprises:

a workstation having at least first and second databases, the central office being coupled with the global communication network and a certificating authority;

a program for generating an asymmetric encryption key pair for assignment respectively to each of the notary, the client and the at least one document; and

a device for associating, in the first database in the central office, each of the respective asymmetric encryption key pairs of the notary, the client and the document with each other.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein an asymmetric encryption key pair comprises:

a public key and a corresponding private key.

8. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of associating comprises the steps of:

storing the respective encryption keys in linked locations in the first database after assigning the keys to the client and the at least one document such that the respective encryption keys for the client and the notary are linked and the respective encryption keys for the client and the at least one document are linked; and

testing the linked locations for a correct match among the respective encryption keys prior to generating the transaction code for issue to the local workstation.

9. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the transaction code comprises the steps of:

issuing the transaction code to the local workstation corresponding to a correct match among the respective encryption keys for the client and the notary and the respective encryption keys for the client and the at least one document.

10. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of executing comprises the steps of:

entering at the local workstation the transaction;

generating a signature graphic for each of the client and the notary; and

generating a notary seal graphic for the notary and the at least one document.

11. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of executing the transaction code causes the central office to affix with the at least one document at the central office the indicia of both the client and the notary.

12. The process of claim 11, wherein the indicia of the client includes a graphic signature thereof that is stored at the central office.

13. The process of claim 11, wherein the indicia of the notary includes a graphic notary seal of the notary that is stored at the central office.

14. A process for notarizing at least one document by a client in the physical presence of a notary from a local workstation on a global communication network which is authenticated at a central office on the global communication network to provide an electronic notarized document, the process conducted in accordance with an official notarization process recognized by government agencies, and wherein the notary possesses a fiducial relationship with the government agency, comprising the steps of:

registering the notary at the central office, such that the notary has associated therewith at the central office in a database both an electronic indicia unique to the notary and associated encryption keys;

registering the client at the central office, such that the client has associated therewith at the central office in a database an electronic indicia unique to the client;

initiating a transaction at the local workstation by the notary and the client who are physically present thereat, such that the notarization process is conducted with the notary and client being disposed at the local workstation at the same time and being a requirement thereof;

associating the client with the notary at the central office and issuing a first set of transaction encryption keys assigned to the client for at least the current transaction, and associating the encryption keys for the client and the notary in a first association in the database at the central office;

forwarding to the central office at least one document to be notarized;

assigning a second set of transaction encryption keys for the document associated with the current transaction;

associating in a second association in the database at the central office the encryption keys of the client with the encryption keys of the document;

verifying that the encryption keys of the client for the current transaction are associated with the encryption keys of both the notary and the document and, if so, generating a transaction code at the central office and transmitting it to the workstation for authorizing execution of the at least one document to provide for the notarizing of the at least one document;

executing the at least one document by the client by executing the transaction code at the workstation to cause the central office to associate with the at least one document at the central office the electronic indicia of both the client and the notary, wherein the step of executing occurs when the notary and client are located at the local station exclusive of all other locations; and

embedding within the document at least a selected one of the respective encryption keys in association with the electronic indicia of both the client and the notary already associated with the at least one document, the step of executing and embedding occurring while the notary and the client are disposed at the local workstation.

15. A process for notarizing at least one document, by a client in the physical presence of a notary, the process conducted in accordance with an official notarization process recognized by government agencies, and wherein the notary possesses a fiducial relationship with the government agency, comprising the steps of:

registering the notary and the client, from a local workstation coupled to a central office via a global communication network, to provide for assigning at least one respective encryption key to each of the notary and the client, wherein the central office as a result of the step of registering will have stored thereat information associated with both the client and the notary representing indicia that is associated with a notarized document as the result of a notarization process;

initiating a transaction by the notary and the client while the notary and client are physically disposed at a local workstation at the same time in their respective persons;

associating in a first database in the central office through actions by the notary the at least one encryption key of the client with the at least one encryption key of the notary to provide a first association;

forwarding by the client at least one document to be notarized to the central office, wherein the central office assigns at least one encryption key thereto;

associating in the first database the at least one encryption key of the client with the at least one encryption key of the at least one document in a second association;

verifying that the at least one encryption key of the client is associated with both the first and second associations;

generating a transaction code, based on the step of verifying, for authorizing execution of the at least one document to provide for the notarizing of the at least one document, and transmitting the transaction code from the central office to the local workstation;

executing the at least one document by the client by executing the transaction code at the local workstation to cause the central office to associate with the at least one document at the central office the indicia of both the client and the notary; and

embedding within the document at least a selected one of the respective encryption keys in association with the indicia of both the client and the notary already associated with the at least one document, the step of executing and embedding occurring while the notary and the client are disposed at the local workstation.

16. The process of claim 15, wherein the indicia associated with the notary is a notary seal and the indicia associated with the client is a signature.

17. The process of claim 15, and further comprising the step of displaying the document to at least the client for approval prior to the step of assigning at least one encryption key to the at least one document.