Secure anonymous information exchange in a network
US6061789A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 2, 1998 |
| Grant date | May 9, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 2, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2209/42
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Computer network management for electronic commerce requires technical implementations of business processes. The process addressed here is a technical method for a communication in which two or more parties legitimately want to communicate anonymously, often before discussing a deal or closing a business, e.g. for anonymous bidding or auctioning in electronic commerce. Essentially, the invention is a method, described by a protocol, for safely exchanging data in a network that provides a public key infrastructure and an anonymous communication possibility between network users. It consists of a sequence of steps in which both sender (e.g. customer) and addressee (e.g. merchant) compose data sets (i.e., requests and replies) that are based on received data and/or prior knowledge. The data sets are enciphered to provide anonymity, and digitally signed to provide proof of the partner. The invention is also a system designed to implement the invented method.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.