Method and system for obtaining digital signatures
First Claim
1. A method of digitally signing a document with a digital signature using at least one computer programmed to perform at least the following steps:
- receiving a signature request from a requestor, the signature request requesting that a document be signed;
determining a type and at least one attribute associated with the document, wherein the type and at least one attribute are determined by;
breaking the document into a plurality of smaller portions based on a document class associated with the document;
applying lexical analysis to the plurality of smaller portions; and
recognizing patterns of the smaller portions to determine the type and at least one attribute associated with the document;
accessing one or more signing policies of an organization, the one or more signing policies identifying a plurality of authorized users of the organization, the one or more signing policies identifying one or more document types that an authorized user is authorized to sign;
determining whether the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document according to the one or more signing policies and the determined type and at least one attribute of the document; and
signing the document with an organization digital signature generated using an organization private key associated with the organization, if the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A digital signature system includes a database holding access control rules that identify documents authorized users are allowed to have electronically signed and a signing system capable of receiving signature requests from a plurality of authorized users, each signature request including a document to be signed, wherein the signing system parses the document to be signed and compares information obtained thereby to the access control rules stored in the database to determine whether the authorized user is authorized to have the document signed, and wherein if it is determined that the authorized user is authorized to have the document signed, the signing system signs the document using authentication information unique to the signing system.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A method of digitally signing a document with a digital signature using at least one computer programmed to perform at least the following steps:
-
receiving a signature request from a requestor, the signature request requesting that a document be signed; determining a type and at least one attribute associated with the document, wherein the type and at least one attribute are determined by; breaking the document into a plurality of smaller portions based on a document class associated with the document; applying lexical analysis to the plurality of smaller portions; and recognizing patterns of the smaller portions to determine the type and at least one attribute associated with the document; accessing one or more signing policies of an organization, the one or more signing policies identifying a plurality of authorized users of the organization, the one or more signing policies identifying one or more document types that an authorized user is authorized to sign; determining whether the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document according to the one or more signing policies and the determined type and at least one attribute of the document; and signing the document with an organization digital signature generated using an organization private key associated with the organization, if the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 26)
-
-
9. A system for digitally signing a document with a digital signature, comprising:
-
a database configured to; store one or more signing policies of an organization, the one or more signing policies identifying a plurality of authorized users of the organization, the one or more signing policies identifying one or more document types that an authorized user is authorized to sign; and a signing system in communication with the database and configured to; receive a signature request from a requestor, the signature request requesting that a document be signed; determine a type and at least one attribute associated with the document, wherein the type and at least one attribute are determined by; breaking the document into a plurality of smaller portions based on a document class associated with the document; applying lexical analysis to the plurality of smaller portions; and recognizing patterns of the smaller portions to determine the type and at least one attribute associated with the document; determine whether the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document according to the one or more signing policies and the determined type and at least one attribute of the document; and sign the document with an organization digital signature generated using an organization private key associated with the organization, if the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. Software for digitally signing a document with a digital signature, the software stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and, when executed by a processor configured to:
-
receive a signature request from a requestor, the signature request requesting that a document be signed; determine a type and at least one attribute associated with the document, wherein the type and at least one attribute are determined by; breaking the document into a plurality of smaller portions based on a document class associated with the document; applying lexical analysis to the plurality of smaller portions; and recognizing patterns of the smaller portions to determine the type and at least one attribute associated with the document; access one or more signing policies of an organization, the one or more signing policies identifying a plurality of authorized users of the organization, the one or more signing policies identifying one or more document types that an authorized user is authorized to sign; determine whether the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document according to the one or more signing policies and the determined type and at least one attribute of the document; and sign the document with an organization digital signature generated using an organization private key associated with the organization, if the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A method of digitally singing a document with a digital signature using at least one computer programmed to perform at least the following steps:
-
receiving a signature request from a requestor, the signature request requesting that a document be signed, receiving the signature request from the requestor further comprising; receiving the signature request, the signature request signed with a requestor digital signature generated using a requestor private key; and verifying the signature request using a requestor public key corresponding to the requestor private key; determining a type and at least one attribute associated with the document, wherein the type and at least one attribute are determined by; breaking the document into a plurality of smaller portions based on a document class associated with the document; applying lexical analysis to the plurality of smaller portions; and recognizing patterns of the smaller portions to determine the type and at least one attribute associated with the document; accessing one or more signing policies of an organization, the organization comprising a company, the one or more signing policies identifying a plurality of authorized users of the organization, the plurality of authorized users comprising a plurality of employees of the company, the one or more signing policies identifying one or more document types that an authorized user is authorized to sign, the one or more signing policies identifying the one or more document types that an authorized user is authorized to sign by specifying one or more attributes of the one or more document types that the authorized user is authorized to sign; determining whether the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document according to the one or more signing policies and the determined type and at least one attribute of the document by; establishing one or more attributes of the document; and determining whether the one or more attributes of the document match the one or more attributes of the one or more document types that the authorized user is authorized to sign; signing the document with an organization digital signature generated using an organization private key associated with the organization, if the requestor is an authorized user authorized to sign the document, the signed document configured to be verified using an organization public key corresponding to the organization private key, the organization private key configured to be authenticated by a certificate authority; signing the signed document with a sender digital signature generated using a sender private key, the signed document configured to be verified with a sender public key corresponding to the sender private key; and sending the signed document to a recipient, the recipient distinct from the plurality of authorized users.
-
Specification