# US 8,789,163 B2 · On-line membership verification utilizing an associated organization certificate > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,789,163 B2 - Document ID: US8789163B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/372,613 - Filed: 2012-02-14 - Published: 2012-08-23 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2011-02-20 - Applicants: Robert S. Cahn - Inventors: Robert S. Cahn - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8789163B2 ## CPC - G06F 21/33: using certificates - G06Q 20/40: Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists - H04L 63/0823: {using certificates (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263)} - H04L 63/1483: {service impersonation, e.g. phishing, pharming or web spoofing (detection of rogue wireless access points H04W12/12)} - 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 - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A system and method is presented for providing verification of specified credentials to an independent person (a third party, that is, a user of a purported member's website) through the utilization of an “organization certificate” (OC) in combination with a “membership certificate” (MC), with the field structure of the OC limiting the type of information that can be certified by the issuing organization. The set of fields in the OC is defined as associated with a particular type of organization, where any extraneous information will not be permitted to form part of a legitimate membership certificate (hereinafter “MC”). The use of specific field descriptions thus assumes that any field appearing in an MC that does not have a corresponding tag in the OC will cause the MC to be flagged as invalid by the user's browser extension during the verification process. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer implemented method for verifying a membership certificate of a purported member of an identified organization, represented as an icon on a purported member's website, the computer implemented method comprising activating the membership certificate icon; retrieving the membership certificate linked to the icon, the membership certificate comprising a field identifying an organization that issued the membership certificate and a payload section including specific information pertaining to the purported member, the specific information structured by specific fields; retrieving an organization certificate associated with the identified organization that created the membership certificate, the organization certificate including a predetermined set of information elements defining the membership, the predetermined set of information elements structured by fixed fields defined by tie identified organization and included a pointer to a separate table comprising specific tagged fields that are populated by the identified organization when creating the membership certificate; comparing the presented elements in the membership certificate with the predetermined set of information elements within the organization certificate; and verifying the membership certificate if and only if the specific fields structured in the membership certificate match the predetermined set of fixed fields structured within the organization certificate as defined by the identified organization. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein the organization certificate is created by a bona fide certification authority (CA) and the method includes the step of validating the organization certificate with respect to the certification authority. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein a local computer performing the method includes a cache of valid organization certificates. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein a local computer performing the method obtains a listing of current and valid organization certificates from a network database. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein the comparison of the membership certificate specific fields to the organization certificate predetermined fixed fields includes a check for inclusion of required information within each specific field. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein the comparison of the membership certificate specific fields to the organization certificate predetermined fixed fields includes a check for only a single occurrence of an information element for a predetermined specific field defined as not permitting multiple entries. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein the method comprises the step of verifying that the organization certificate is properly signed and has not expired. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein the method comprises the step of verifying that the membership certificate has not expired. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 wherein the organization certificate and the membership certificate are presented as combined certificate, with the organization certificate first verified before verifying the membership certificate. ### Claim 10 A computer usable program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium including computer usable code for verifying a membership certificate of a purported member of an identified organization, the membership certificate represented by an icon on a purported member's website, the computer usable code comprising computer usable code for activating the membership certificate icon; computer usable code for retrieving the membership certificate linked to the icon, the membership certificate comprising a field identifying an organization that issued the membership certificate and a payload section including specific information pertaining to the purported member, the specific information structured by specific fields; computer usable code for retrieving an organization certificate associated with the identified organization that created the membership certificate, the organization certificate including a predetermined set of information elements defining the membership, the predetermined set of information elements structured by fixed fields defined by the identified organization and included a pointer to a separate table comprising specific tagged fields that are populated by the identified organization when creating the membership certificate; computer usable code for comparing the presented elements in the membership certificate with the predetermined set of information elements within the organization certificate; and computer usable code for verifying the membership certificate if and only if the specific fields structured in the membership certificate match the predetermined set of fixed fields structured within the organization certificate as defined by the identified organization. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10 wherein the organization certificate is created by a bona fide certification authority (CA), the computer usable program code for validating the organization certificate with respect to the certification authority. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10, wherein the computer usable code performs the step of retrieving a local cache of valid organization certificates. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10, wherein the computer usable code performs the step of retrieving valid organization certificates from a network database. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10, wherein the computer usable code performs the step of checking the membership certificate specific fields for an inclusion of required information within each specific field. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10, wherein the computer usable code performs the step of checking for only a single occurrence of an information element for a predetermined specific field defined as not permitting multiple entries. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10, wherein the computer usable code performs the step of verifying that the organization certificate is properly signed and has not expired. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10, wherein the computer usable code performs the step verifying that the membership certificate has not expired. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The computer usable program product as defined in claim 10 wherein the organization certificate and membership certificate are presented as a combined certificate with specific delimiters used to signify the demarcation between the organization certificate and the membership certificate, with the computer usable code performing the step of verifying the organization certificate portion before verifying the membership certificate portion of the combined certificate. ### Claim 19 A system for verifying a membership certificate of a purported member of an identified organization, represented as an icon on a purported member's website, the system comprising a first hardware element including computer usable code means for activating the membership certificate icon; a second hardware element including computer usable code means for retrieving the membership certificate linked to the icon, the membership certificate comprising a field identifying an organization that issued the membership certificate and a payload section including specific information pertaining to the purported member, the specific information structured by specific fields; a third hardware element including computer usable code means for retrieving an organization certificate associated with the identified organization that created the membership certificate, the organization certificate including a predetermined set of information elements defining the membership, the predetermined set of information elements structured by fixed fields defined by the identified organization and included a pointer to a separate table comprising specific tagged fields that are populated by the identified organization when creating the membership certificate; a fourth hardware element including computer usable code means for comparing the presented elements in the membership certificate with the predetermined set of information elements within the organization certificate; and a fifth hardware element including computer usable code means for verifying the membership certificate if and only if the specific fields structured in the membership certificate match the predetermined set of fixed fields structured within the organization certificate as defined by the identified organization. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19 wherein the organization certificate is created by a bona fide certification authority (CA) and the system further comprises a sixth hardware element including computer usable code means for validating the organization certificate with respect to the certification authority. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the third hardware element including computer usable code means performs the step of retrieving a local cache of valid organization certificates. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the third hardware element including computer usable code means performs the step of retrieving valid organization certificates from a network database. ### Claim 23 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the fifth hardware element including computer usable code performs the step of checking the membership certificate specific fields for an inclusion of required information within each specific field. ### Claim 24 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the fifth hardware element including computer usable code means performs the step of checking for only a single occurrence of an information element for a predetermined specific field defined as not permitting multiple entries. ### Claim 25 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the fifth hardware element including computer usable code means performs the step of verifying that the organization certificate is properly signed and has not expired. ### Claim 26 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the organization certificate and membership certificate are presented as a combined certificate with the fifth hardware element including computer usable code means first performing a verification of the organization certificate portion and then performing a verification of the membership certificate portion. ### Claim 27 (depends on 19) The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the fifth hardware element including computer usable code means performs the step verifying that the membership certificate has not expired.