Back to results
US 12,412,132 B2Granted
Smart contract management of licensing and apportionment using a distributed ledger
AssigneeStrong Force TX Portfolio 2018, LLC
InventorCharles Howard Cella
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Transaction-enabled methods for providing provable access to a distributed ledger with a tokenized instruction set for polymer production processes are described. A method may include accessing a distributed ledger comprising an instruction set for a polymer production process and tokenizing the instruction set. The method may further include interpreting an instruction set access request and providing provable access to the instruction set. The method may further include providing commands to a production tool of the polymer production process and recording the transaction on the distributed ledger.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method of maintaining a distributed ledger by a plurality of distributed ledger nodes, the method comprising:
- generating, by the plurality of distributed ledger nodes, the distributed ledger based on a plurality of distributed ledger transactions;
- receiving, by the plurality of distributed ledger nodes, a plurality of transaction requests, each transaction request specifying licensing terms including 1) an identification of a respective copyrighted data element, 2) a description of a scope of utilization of the respective copyrighted data element, and 3) a description of sub-licensing rights for the respective copyrighted data element;
- embedding, by the plurality of distributed ledger nodes, the licensing terms for each of the plurality of transaction requests into an aggregate intellectual property (IP) stack within a smart contract stored on the distributed ledger, wherein the smart contract is configured to:
- access the distributed ledger comprising the licensing terms,
- provide provable access to each of the respective copyrighted data elements in the aggregate IP stack,
- add new copyrighted data elements to the aggregate IP stack in response to IP addition requests,
- adjust a royalty distribution in response to changes in the aggregate IP stack, and
- automatically distribute royalties associated with each of the respective copyrighted data elements to a plurality of respective owners associated with the respective copyrighted data elements;
- automatically executing, by the plurality of distributed ledger nodes, a licensing operation on the distributed ledger in response to a request to license a particular copyrighted data element from a first party, wherein the licensing operation provides access to the particular copyrighted data element and commits the first party to the licensing terms;
- automatically executing, by the plurality of distributed ledger nodes, a sub-licensing operation on the distributed ledger in response to a request to sub-license the particular copyrighted data element, wherein the sub-licensing operation provides access to the particular copyrighted data element, commits a second party to the licensing terms, and stores a licensing chain indicating the licensing operation and the sub-licensing operation on the distributed ledger;
- and
- automatically executing, by the plurality of distributed ledger nodes, an apportioning operation that distributes royalty amounts associated with the particular copyrighted data element to the plurality of respective owners in accordance with the licensing chain stored on the distributed ledger and the royalty distribution in the smart contract.
9 more elements
A system that maintains a distributed ledger, the system comprising:
- a plurality of distributed ledger nodes, wherein each distributed ledger node of the plurality of distributed ledger nodes comprises one or more physical processors and memory storing instructions that configure the corresponding distributed ledger node to perform steps, wherein the plurality of distributed ledger nodes are configured to perform steps comprising:
- generating the distributed ledger based on a plurality of distributed ledger transactions;
- receiving a plurality of transaction requests, each transaction request specifying licensing terms including 1) an identification of a respective copyrighted data element, 2) a description of a scope of utilization of the respective copyrighted data element, and 3) a description of sub-licensing rights for the respective copyrighted data element;
- embedding the licensing terms for each of the plurality of transaction requests into an aggregate intellectual property (IP) stack within a smart contract stored on the distributed ledger, wherein the smart contract is configured to:
- access the distributed ledger comprising the licensing terms,
- provide provable access to each of the respective copyrighted data elements in the aggregate IP stack,
- add new copyrighted data elements to the aggregate IP stack in response to IP addition requests,
- adjust a royalty distribution in response to changes in the aggregate IP stack, and
- automatically distribute royalties associated with each of the respective copyrighted data elements to a plurality of respective owners associated with the respective copyrighted data elements;
- automatically executing a licensing operation on the distributed ledger in response to a request to license a particular copyrighted data element from a first party, wherein the licensing operation provides access to the particular copyrighted data element and commits the first party to the licensing terms;
- automatically executing a sub-licensing operation on the distributed ledger in response to a request to sub-license the particular copyrighted data element, wherein the sub-licensing operation provides access to the particular copyrighted data element, commits a second party to the licensing terms, and stores a licensing chain indicating the licensing operation and the sub-licensing operation on the distributed ledger;
- and
- automatically executing an apportioning operation that distributes royalty amounts associated with the particular copyrighted data element to the plurality of respective owners in accordance with the licensing chain stored on the distributed ledger and the royalty distribution in the smart contract.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.