Method and system to grant indefinite use of software options resident on a device

• US 7,739,725 B1
• Filed: 09/19/2005
• Issued: 06/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Medical Technology Services, Inc. (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: GE Medical Technology Services, Inc. (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: Minogue, Michael R., Blair, William G., Zhang, Kun, Durbin, Winnie C., Singh, Karamjeet
• Primary Examiner(s): Zand; Kambiz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran; Tongoc
• Application Number:
  US11/162,680
• Time in Patent Office: 1,730 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/182, 713/155, 726/2, 726/19, 726/4, 707/9, 709/229
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 Privileged access

Abstract

A system for granting indefinite use of inactivated software options pre-installed on a device is provided. The system includes receiving, at a remote processing facility, a recurrent use request from a user requesting access to an inactivated software option resident on the device. The system is further configured to validate the request and generate an activation key. The activation key is transmitted from the processing facility to the device automatically activating the option and granting recurrent access. The activation key or code is generated at the processing facility using data from at least one of a user identifier, a system identifier, a recurrent use identifier, and the selected option. A method to permit recurrent use of resident, yet, inactivated software of a device is also provided.

Claims

1. A system to grant recurrent use of inactivated options comprising:

a device having at least one disabled software application resident on a computer programmed to control an option of the device;

a receiving center remotely located from the device and having a computer programmed to;

receive a request from a user for recurrent use of the at least one disabled software application resident on the device computer;

transmit an access code from the receiving center to the device;

enable recurrent use of the at least one disabled software application resident on the device; and

monitor a qualification status of the user while the at least one disabled software application remains enabled.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the receiving center computer is further programmed to disable the enabled at least one disabled software application if the user is no longer qualified.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the receiving center computer is further programmed to notify the user that the enabled at least one disabled software application has been disabled.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the receiving center computer is further programmed to terminate qualification status monitoring when the enabled at least one disabled software application becomes disabled.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the qualification status is one of qualified and disqualified.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the qualification status indicates a disqualified status if the user fails to have at least one of a current account balance, an established line of credit, a valid user identifier, a valid system identifier, a valid software option identifier, and a recurrent use request identifier.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the receiving center computer is further programmed to:

receive a user identifier and validate the user identification;

if the user identification is validated, receive a system identifier and validate the system identifier;

if the system identifier is validated, grant recurrent use to the at least one disabled software application; and

notify the user that recurrent use of the at least one disabled software application is granted.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the receiving center computer is further programmed to:

determine if a software application upgrade is available for the at least one disabled software application for which recurrent use has been requested; and

notify the user of the availability to upgrade the at least one disabled software application.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the receiving center computer receives the request through an open communication system and is further programmed to generate an alphanumeric key specific to at least one of a user identifier, a system identifier, a recurrent use identifier, and a software application identifier.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the device includes at least one medical imaging device.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the receiving center computer is further programmed to:

determine whether the user is qualified, and if so;

grant access to the at least one inactivated software application, and if not;

deny access to the at least one inactivated software application.

12. A system to grant use of inactivated options comprising:

a computer having a software application inactivated thereon;

a receiving center remotely located from the computer and configured to;

receive a request from a user for use of the inactivated software application;

transmit an access code from the receiving center to the computer;

activate use of the software application;

determine a qualification status of the user; and

automatically deactivate the activated software application if the user becomes unqualified.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the receiving center is further configured to monitor the qualification status while the software application remains activated.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the use is an indefinite use.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the receiving center is further configured to notify the user that the software application has been deactivated.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein the qualification status indicates an unqualified status if the user fails to have at least one of a current account balance, an established line of credit, a valid user identifier, a valid system identifier, a valid software option identifier, and a recurrent use request identifier.

17. The system of claim 12 further comprising a medical image device connected to the computer.

18. A method to permit indefinite use of an inactivated option resident on a device comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a centralized facility, a request from a user for indefinite use of an option resident on a device located remotely from the centralized facility;

determining a user qualification status; and

if the user qualification status indicates qualification, then;

generating an activation key configured to permit indefinite use of the option;

transmitting the activation key from the centralized facility to the device;

automatically enabling user access to the option resident on the device in response to reception of the activation key; and

monitoring the user qualification status while user access to the option remains enabled.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

automatically disabling the enabled option if the user qualification status indicates disqualification; and

notifying the user that the enabled option has been disabled.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

notifying the user that the enabled option will be disabled; and

automatically disabling the enabled option if the user qualification status indicates disqualification.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the device is a medical imaging device.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the user qualification status indicates a disqualified status if the user has one of a delinquent billing account, a lack of a line of credit, an inadequate credit history, and a failure to complete training requirements.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein the user qualification status indicates a qualified status if the user has a non-delinquent billing account.