Electronically implemented method and system for authentication and sharing of documents via a communication network

• US 8,914,898 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2008
• Issued: 12/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd. (Kuoni Reisen Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Tharakan Web Innovations Pvt., Ltd.
• Inventors: Tharakan, P. A. Lalan
• Primary Examiner(s): Whipple, Brian P
• Application Number:
  US12/865,990
• Publication Number:
  US 20110010757A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,463 Days
• Field of Search: 726/27
• US Class Current: 726/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/64 Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services

Abstract

The invention provides a method and system of authentication and online sharing of documents by electronic means, through a third party, conducted via a communication network. The method involves, creation of a website, subject to the control of an administration entity; uploading the scanned version of the original document by the user at the allotted location in the website, using the obtained user name and created password; assigning a uniquely identifiable indicia to the scanned document; sending the scanned document to the authenticating entity; accessesing and verifying the authenticity of scanned document by the authenticating entity, by comparison with the original document available in the database of the authenticating entity. The authentication is performed through an electronically simple mechanism only once, in which, irrespective of the date of issue of the document, the document may be attested and the record may be maintained permanently.

Claims

1. An electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network, comprising the steps of:

(i) uploading a scanned version of an original document at an allotted location accessible using the communication network, the allotted location being a specific location on a website of an administrative entity related to a user account;

(ii) allotting a unique document identification indicia to the uploaded original document by which the uploaded original document is uniquely identifiable to an administration entity;

(iii) communicating the uploaded and the scanned version of the original document to an authenticating entity, which is capable of authentication of the scanned document, the authenticating entity being an entity that issued the original document;

(iv) verifying the scanned version of the original document, the verification including comparison of the scanned version with the original document available with the authenticating entity either in its database or as a physical copy;

(v) authenticating the verified document, and

(vi) sharing the authenticated document via the communication network.

2. The electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication network is the internet or a mobile communication network.

3. The electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network as claimed in claim 1, wherein the document identification indicia is alphabetic, numeric or alpha-numeric.

4. The electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network as claimed in claim 1, wherein a method for sharing of the uploaded document comprises the steps of citing the document identification indicia details to a third party, and enabling sharing with the third party by inputting said cited indicia through the communication network.

5. The electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network as claimed in claim 1, wherein the document comprises a certificate, license, registered document, copy of policy, share document, or a letter patent.

6. The electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network as claimed in claim 1, wherein the authentication by the authenticating entity is required only once.

7. The electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network as claimed in claim 1, where the authentication is performed irrespective of the date of issue of the document.

8. The electronically implemented method for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network as claimed in claim 1, wherein the administrative entity is a service provider having a database for sharing the authenticated document using the communication network.

9. An electronically implemented system for authentication and sharing of a document via a communication network, wherein the system comprises:

(i) a client-side computer employed by a user to input a scanned version of an original document at an allotted location accessible using a communication network, said allotted location being a specific location in a website of an administration entity related to a user account;

(ii) an authenticating entity, which is capable of verifying and authenticating the scanned version of the document by comparing the scanned version of the document with the original document available with an authenticating entity either in a database or as a physical copy, the authenticating entity being the entity that issued the original document; and

(iii) a third party with whom the authenticated and electronically attested document is shared using the communication network.