US 10,474,841 B2Granted

System and method of owner application control of electronic devices

AssigneeBlackBerry Limited

InventorsNeil Patrick Adams, Michael Grant Kirkup, Herbert Anthony Little, Russell Norman Owen

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Systems and methods of owner application control of an electronic device are provided. Owner application control information is stored on the electronic device and/or one or more remote servers. Owner application control information is consulted to determine if one or more required applications are available for execution on the electronic device. If not, one or more required applications not available are downloaded and installed. This could be in a manner transparent to the user of the electronic device. If one or more required applications are not available on the electronic device, the device can be functionally disabled in whole, or in part, until one or more required applications are available.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of application control on an electronic device, the method comprising:

receiving, by the electronic device, owner control information from an owner of the electronic device, the owner control information comprising:
an identification of the owner of the electronic device, the owner being different from a user of the electronic device;
an identification of one or more applications having an installation status on which the owner of the electronic device predicates operation of functions of the electronic device independent of functions of the one or more applications;
and
one or more permissions associated with the identification of the one or more applications permitted for installation on the electronic device, where:
for a first of the one or more applications, a first of the one or more permissions allows operation of a first function of the electronic device only when the first of the one or more applications is not installed on the electronic device;
and
for a second of the one or more applications, a second of the one or more permissions allows operation of a second function of the electronic device only when the second of the one or more applications is installed on the electronic device, the second function being a function independent of functions provided by the second of the one or more applications;
storing, by the electronic device, the owner control information in a data store of the electronic device;
and
controlling access of the user to the electronic device based upon the owner control information.

8 more elements

An electronic device, comprising

a memory;
and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured by instructions stored in the memory to:
receive owner control information from an owner of the electronic device, the owner control information comprising:
an identification of the owner of the electronic device, the owner being different from the user of the electronic device;
an identification of one or more applications having an installation status on which the owner of the electronic device predicates operation of functions of the electronic device independent of functions of the one or more applications;
and
one or more permissions associated with the identification of the one or more applications permitted for installation on the electronic device, where:
for a first of the one or more applications, a first of the one or more permissions allows operation of a first function of the electronic device only when the first of the one or more applications is not installed on the electronic device;
and
for a second of the one or more applications, a second of the one or more permissions allows operation of a second function of the electronic device only when the second of the one or more applications is installed on the electronic device, the second function being a function independent of functions provided by the second of the one or more applications;
store the owner control information in a data store of the electronic device;
and
control access of the user to the electronic device based upon the owner control information.

11 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions are executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform the operations of:

receiving owner control information from an owner of an electronic device, the owner control information comprising:
an identification of the owner of the electronic device, the owner being different from a user of the electronic device;
an identification of one or more applications having an installation status on which the owner of the electronic device predicates operation of functions of the electronic device independent of functions of the one or more applications;
and
one or more permissions associated with the identification of the one or more applications permitted for installation on the electronic device, where:
for a first of the one or more applications, a first of the one or more permissions allows operation of a first function of the electronic device only when the first of the one or more applications is not installed on the electronic device;
and
for a second of the one or more applications, a second of the one or more permissions allows operation of a second function of the electronic device only when the second of the one or more applications is installed on the electronic device, the second function being a function independent of functions provided by the second of the one or more applications;
storing the owner control information in a data store of the electronic device;
and
controlling access of the user to the electronic device based upon the owner control information.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/402,007Filed 9 Jan 2017 · continuation
Priority: 12 Dec 2002
Published: US 2017/0124344 A14 May 2017
Granted: 12 Nov 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification15 codes

G06F 21/629
Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules: to features or functions of an application
G06F 8/61
Software deployment: installation
G06F 12/1458
Protection against unauthorised use of memory or access to memory: by checking the subject access rights
G06F 21/51
Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems: at application…

Family

Application60/432,610Us provisional application · filed 12 Dec 2002
Application10/732,132Parent of this continuation · filed 10 Dec 2003
Application60/567,163Us provisional application · filed 30 Apr 2004
Application11/118,844Parent of this continuation · filed 29 Apr 2005
Application12/869,589Parent of this continuation · filed 26 Aug 2010
US 7,793,355 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 7 Sep 2010
Application12/885,281Parent of this continuation · filed 17 Sep 2010
US 7,815,100 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 19 Oct 2010
Application13/606,814Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 7 Sep 2012
Application13/618,311Parent of this continuation · filed 14 Sep 2012
US 8,302,185 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 30 Oct 2012
US 8,887,988 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 18 Nov 2014
Application14/715,227Parent of this continuation · filed 18 May 2015
US 9,033,216 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 19 May 2015
US 2017/0124344 A1Pre-grant publication · published 4 May 2017
US 9,542,571 B2Parent of this continuation
Application11/118,844Parent of this continuation-in-part
Application13/606,814Parent of this continuation
US 2004/0255169 A1Published application
US 2005/0257209 A1Published application
US 2010/0325741 A1Published application
US 2011/0010705 A1Published application
US 2013/0007877 A1Published application
US 2013/0019318 A1Published application
US 2015/0254472 A1Published application
US 8,893,957 B2Related patent
US 10,474,841 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.