# US 10,372,884 B2 · Information processing system, information processing apparatus, account registration method, and program

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- Number: US 10,372,884 B2
- Document ID: US10372884B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/918,812
- Filed: 2015-10-21
- Published: 2016-05-05
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-10-30
- Assignees: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
- Applicants: Hiroyuki Matsushima
- Inventors: Hiroyuki Matsushima
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10372884B2

## CPC

- G06F 21/105: {Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level}
- G06Q 10/10: Office automation; Time management
- G06Q 30/0185: {Product, service or business identity fraud}
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

An information processing system including at least one information processing apparatus that includes an administration unit configured to administer whether a service is provided to a service use apparatus using an organization, a license, and a user, and an account registration unit configured to receive a subscription for a trial use of the service from the service use apparatus and perform an account registration for the administration unit so that the trial use from the service use apparatus is enabled.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An information processing system comprising:
a server; and
an image forming apparatus that includes
a scanner configured to scan a document,
an operation panel configured to
display an application view screen to enable a user to select a service for a trial use, the service executing scanning of the document using the scanner of the image forming apparatus,
display an account creation screen for creating an account in response to selecting of the service, and
receive an input of user information including a user mail address to be sent to the server from the user, on the account creation screen,
wherein the server includes
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause the processor to function as
an account registration unit configured to
receive the input user mail address sent in response to the input on the account creation screen displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus,
return a return mail to the user mail address, the return mail including an access to an account information input screen displayed on a user terminal that is different from the image forming apparatus, and
receive the user information input on the account information input screen, so as to automatically issue a trial license for the service in association with the input user information,
wherein the processor causes the service to be enabled to be used by the user depending on the issued trial license, the service executing the scanning of the document by the scanner of the image forming apparatus.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The information processing system according to claim 1,
wherein the account registration unit registers the account of at least one of an organization, a license, and the user with the memory so that a trial use of the service from the image forming apparatus is enabled.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The information processing system according to claim 2,
wherein the account registration unit registers the account of the organization, the license, and the user with the memory so that the trial use of the service from the image forming apparatus is enabled in a case where the trial use of the service is subscribed from the image forming apparatus, an organization of which is not registered in the memory.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The information processing system according to claim 3,
wherein the account registration unit does not register the account in a case where the user mail address is designated in a subscription for the trial use and is already registered.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The information processing system according to claim 2,
wherein the account registration unit registers the account for the license and the user so that the trial use of the service is enabled from the image forming apparatus, in a case where the trial use of the service is subscribed from the image forming apparatus, an organization of which is registered in the memory.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The information processing system according to claim 5,
wherein the account registration unit does not register the license in a case where the license of the service is registered in the organization registered in the memory.

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

The information processing system according to claim 2,
wherein the account registration unit registers the account of the user with the memory so that the trial use of the service is enabled from the image forming apparatus in a case where a subscription of the trial use of the service is received from the image forming apparatus, the organization and the license of which are registered in the memory.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The information processing system according to claim 7,
wherein the account registration unit does not register the account of the user with the memory in a case where the license registered in the memory is the license for a formal contract.

### Claim 9 (depends on 2)

The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to:
return information of the organization, the license, and the user, which are administered by the processor, to the image forming apparatus in a case where an authentication, which is performed using information of the user administered by the processor based on a login request requested from the image forming apparatus, is successful.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The information processing system according to claim 1,
wherein the account registration unit receives a subscription of a formal contract in a case where the image forming apparatus is registered as being permitted for the formal contract as a result of client authentication of the image forming apparatus.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The information processing system according to claim 1,
wherein the operation panel further configured to
display the account information input screen, and
input a user name on the account information input screen so as to be sent to the server,
wherein the account registration unit is configured to activate the trial license,
wherein the processor causes the account creation user screen and the account information input screen to be displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The information processing system according to claim 1,
wherein the processor is further caused to function as an administration unit configured to administer whether a license for a service is present in tenant information including a tenant ID, a license corresponding to the tenant ID, and a list of the user who has the license,
wherein the image forming apparatus has the tenant information when the service is enabled to be used depending on the issued trial license and then adds the user who is enabled to use the service depending on the issued trial license to the list of user in the tenant information stored in the administration unit of the server.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processor causes the user information to be input in the account creation screen.

### Claim 14

A method for processing information in an information processing system including
a server including a processor and a memory, and
an image forming apparatus including a scanner and an operation panel, the method comprises:
scanning, by the scanner, a document,
displaying, by the operation panel, an application view screen, to enable a user to select a service for a trial use, the service executing scanning of the document using the scanner of the image forming apparatus,
displaying, by the operation panel, an account creation screen for creating an account in response to selecting of the service, and
receiving, by the operation panel, an input of user information including a user mail address to be sent to the server from the user, on the account creation screen;
receiving, by the processor, the input user mail address sent in response to the input on the account creation screen displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus,
returning, by the processor, a return mail to the user mail address, the return mail including an access to an account information input screen displayed on a user terminal that is different from the image forming apparatus, and
receiving, by the processor, the user information input on the account information input screen, so as to automatically issue a trial license for the service in association with the input user information,
wherein the processor causes the service to be enabled to be used by the user depending on the issued trial license, the service executing the scanning of the document by the scanner of the image forming apparatus.