Patent · US Expired

Global positioning system hardware key for software licenses

US7272500B1 · kind B1 · utility

42Cited by
69References
43Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMar 25, 2004
Grant dateSep 18, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 2, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01S19/39
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A system for validating a license to use a computational component, comprising (a) a GPS module 108 to determine one or more of GPS timing information and a geographic location of at least one of the computational component 400 and a key device 100 in communication with the computational component 400 and (b) a validation agent 128 and/or 404 operable to (a) compare the GPS timing information against the license expiration date and/or compare the geographic location with at least one predetermined geographic location permitted by the license and (b), when the GPS timing information is outside of the permissible license term and/or when the geographic location is not a permitted geographic location under the license, determine that the computational component 400 is not validly licensed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.