Method for proof of transaction

• US 20020156748A1
• Filed: 03/12/2002
• Published: 10/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: exceet Secure Solutions GmbH (Helikos SE)
• Original Assignee: Jan Wendenburg, Percy Dahm
• Inventors: Wendenburg, Jan, Dahm, Percy
• Granted Patent: US 7,039,616 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/047 using payment protocols involving electronic receipts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/383 Anonymous user system
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A method is proposed for proof of the time and content of transactions in a digital network, where

a) a digital form is requested from the bid server (3) by a customer'"'"'s computer (1) connected to the network,

b) the form is transmitted from the bid server (3) to the customer'"'"'s computer (1) and

c) the form data entered in the form, which comprise the data required for acceptance of the bid, are sent back to an order acceptance server,

d) the form sent from the bid server (3) to the customer'"'"'s computer (1) contains the network address of a transaction proof server (4),

e) the form data are sent from the customer'"'"'s computer (1) to the transaction proof server (4),

f) the form data are provided with a digital time specification,

g) at least one check digit code is generated for the form data and the digital time specification, and this check digit code is encoded with a key to form a time signature, and

h) the form data are transmitted from the transaction proof server (4) together with the digital time specification and the time signature to the order acceptance server.

Claims

1. Method for proof of transactions in a digital network, especially on the internet, where the acceptance of a bid presented via a bid server takes place by means of the fact that

a) a digital form is requested from the bid server (3) by a customer'"'"'s computer (1) connected to the network,

b) the form is transmitted from the bid server (3) to the customer'"'"'s computer (1) and

c) the form data entered in the form, which comprise the data required for acceptance of the bid, are sent back to an order acceptance server,

characterised in that

d) the form sent from the bid server (3) to the customer'"'"'s computer (1) contains the network address of a transaction proof server (4),

e) the form data are sent from the customer'"'"'s computer (1) to the transaction proof server (4),

f) the form data are provided with a digital time specification,

g) at least one check digit code is generated for the form data and the digital time specification, and this check digit code is encoded with a key to form a time signature, and

h) the form data are transmitted from the transaction proof server (4) together with the digital time specification and the time signature to the order acceptance server.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the form sent from the bid server (3) to the customer'"'"'s computer (1) contains the network address of the order acceptance server.

3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the form data, before being sent to the transaction proof server (4), is provided with a digital signature which identifies the customer.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterised in that the form data are only released for transmission to the transaction proof server (4) if the form data contain the digital signature which identifies the customer.

5. Method according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that the transaction proof server (4) checks whether the form data is provided with an error-free digital signature of the customer and the form data is sent back to the customer'"'"'s computer (1) if the digital signature is missing or there is an error in this signature.

6. Method according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterised in that the transaction proof server (4) checks whether the customer or a certificate contained in the digital signature which identifies the customer, is contained in a customer data bank.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the transaction proof server (4) provides the form data with a signature which identifies the transaction proof server (4).

8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the transaction proof server (4) redirects the form data to a certification server (5) which generates a time stamp certificate (5) as a time signature for the form data and sends the time stamp certificate back to the transaction proof server (4).

9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the data transmitted to the order acceptance server is stored in the network such that it is accessible for the customer.

10. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the data transferred to the order acceptance server is also transmitted to the customer'"'"'s computer (1).

11. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the order acceptance server transmits a confirmation of the content of the order data to the transaction proof server (3) and the transaction proof server redirects the confirmation to the customer'"'"'s computer.