US 5,745,879 A · Method and system for managing execution of licensed programs

Abstract

A distributed computer system employs a license management system to account for software product usage. A management policy having a variety of alternative styles and contexts is provided. Each licensed program upon start-up makes a call to a license server to check on whether usage is permitted, and the license server checks a database of the licenses, called product use authorizations, that it administers. If the particular use requested is permitted, a grant is returned to the requesting user node. The product use authorization is structured to define a license management policy allowing a variety of license alternatives by values called "style", "context", "duration" and "usage requirements determination method". The license administration may be delegated by the license server to a subsection of the organization, by creating another license management facility duplicating the main facility. The license server must receive a license document (a product use authorization) from an issuer of licenses, where a license document generator is provided. A mechanism is provided for one user node to make a call to use a software product located on another user node; this is referred to as a "calling card", by which a user node obtains permission to make a procedure call to use a program on another node.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A method executed in a computer system for managing access to software items, the method comprising the steps of:

maintaining a store of license authorizations for software items, each of said license authorizations including an identification of a corresponding software item and one or more policy components used to define a license management policy for said corresponding software item, each of said license authorizations including a number of units of license use, and wherein said policy components defining said license management policy include a policy component identifying an allocative policy and a consumptive policy, said allocative policy permitting return of units allocated to a client after the client completes a requested use making said units returned available for use by another client, and said consumptive policy not permitting return of units;
sending a request from a client executing in said computer system to a server to obtain access to said software item, said request including data identifying said client and said software item;
retrieving from said store, in response to said request, a license authorization corresponding to said software item;
determining whether to grant or refuse said request in accordance with said license authorization;
and
sending a response to said client indicating whether said request has been granted or refused.

3 more elements

A system for managing the execution of software products in a computer system, the system comprising:

means for maintaining a store of license documents for software products, each of said license documents including an identification of a corresponding software product and one or more policy components used to define a license management policy for said corresponding software product, each of said license documents including a number of units of license use, and wherein said policy components defining said license management policy include a policy component identifying an allocative policy and a consumptive policy, said allocative policy permitting return of units allocated to a client after the client completes a requested use making said units returned available for use by another client, and said consumptive policy not permitting return of units;
means for sending a request from said client executing in a computer system to a server to obtain permission to use said software product, said request including data identifying said client and said software product;
means for retrieving, in response to said means for send a request, a license document from said store that corresponds to said software product;
means for determining, using said license document, whether to grant or refuse said request;
and
means for sending a response to said client indicating whether said request has been granted or refused.

3 more elements

A method executed in a computer system for managing licensed software comprising the steps of:

generating, by a license issuer, a license authorization for each software product licensed software;
sending said license authorization to a license manager;
maintaining, by a license manager, a database of license authorizations generated by said license issuer, wherein each of said license authorizations in said database includes a first portion identifying a corresponding software product and a second portion identifying a license management policy for said corresponding software product, said second portion having multiple policy components including client characteristics one of said policy components being a context including one or more values identifying an environment in which said corresponding software product is used, said context including an application context identifying an element which is supplied by said corresponding software product;
sending, to said license manager, a request by a client to obtain permission to use a software product, said request containing data identifying the client;
retrieving, by said license manager in response to said request, a license authorization from said database corresponding to said software product;
determining, using said license authorization and at least one of said policy components, whether to grant or refuse said request;
sending, from said license manager to said client, a response indicating whether said request has been granted or refused;
and
determining, using said application context, whether the client may use said corresponding software product.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and system for managing execution of licensed programs

Life of this patent

Method and system for managing execution of licensed programs

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims29