Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Multiple computer communication using cryptography – Particular communication authentication technique
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-02
2001-12-04
Chung, Phung M. (Department: 2132)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Multiple computer communication using cryptography
Particular communication authentication technique
C713S179000, C713S150000, C713S168000, C713S169000, C380S260000, C380S285000, C705S075000, C705S076000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06327656
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to certifying electronic documents and more particularly to time-stamping and verifying time-stamps for documents transmitted using network resources.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various ways for certifying documents have been used throughout the ages. For example, a Notary public is a person empowered to witness and certify documents and to take oaths and affidavits. Typically, notarization relies upon the presence of parties and sometimes documents (in paper form) during certification, and the notary relies upon personal observation. Another type of certification is mail delivery certification. Typically, the recipient of a piece of mail signs and dates a document indicating that they have received it (or at least that they have received something from someone on a particular day).
Traditional document certification remains inadequate. For one, there remains a need for document certification without the need of a notary. One reason for this is that notarization can be very inconvenient—a notary public is not always on hand, and may not be available at all when needed. This is one reason that many important and time sensitive documents do not get notarized. For example, parties with documents pertaining to the conception of a patentable invention, a story line for a movie that was discussed with film companies, or an employment harassment complaint, could all benefit from a simple way of certifying and authenticating their documents, and, more particularly, a way of certifying that a particular document was in their possession or was transmitted by them at a given date and time.
In addition to the availability and convenience problem, the traditional methods of document certification can often provide inadequate results. One instance of this is the difficulty in determining whether an item that was ostensibly “certified” is the item that a party later asserts it to be. For example, a party may send a message using certified postal mail, and may receive a signed card indicating that the recipient had received something. However, the postal certification card may only prove that the recipient got something, and does not prove message content. Additionally, a page of a document may be notarized (such as a signature page), but an opposing party may later allege that other pages in the document were not present at the time of notarization, or that other pages in the document had been changed.
Thus, there remains a need for better and more convenient document certification, for certification and corresponding verification with time-stamp information, and for transmitting messages with convenient, content proving certification.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, electronic document certification, verification of such certification, and certification in the transmission of electronic mail are provided.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a party with an electronic document can make a request for electronic document certification. The certification can, for example, be provided by an Internet server. The certification provider receives the party's request for certification, along with the electronic document to be certified. To perform certification, a unique digital signature is extracted from the electronic document. The extracted signature provides a document “fingerprint” that serves to identify the document and to distinguish the document from other documents, even ones that appear to be similar to one another. The certification provider also stores and maintains certification information including the unique digital signature for the document in association with an identification code. The certification information can also include additional information, such as an indication of the exact time and date of certification. The identification code (and optionally a copy of the certified document) can be provided to the party making the request for certification, or to any relevant party.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a document can be verified to determine whether it was previously certified and to determine whether the contents of the document are the same as that which was certified. This can provide not only an indication that a document was certified, including the date and time that the certification took place, but can also provide proof that the contents of the document in question correspond exactly to the certified material. This verification aspect can be undertaken by receiving a verification request that includes a document to be verified (one alleged to have been previously certified) along with an identification code. The certification provider can then locate, from its maintained certification information, the previously produced digital signature (if any) that corresponds to the offered identification code. Then, the certification provider can process the document to be verified to extract a digital verification signature (typically using the same protocol used in the certification process), and compare the verification signature to the previously produced digital signature to determine whether they match. If they match, then the document is certified, and a message can be transmitted to the verification requester indicating that the document is authentic and that it was certified at the relevant date and time.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the certification provider is a system that can receive and transmit electronic mail, and also can perform operations on received mail. This allows convenient communication between the certification requester and the certification provider. Furthermore, the certification provider provides certification of electronic mail messages transmitted by a sender to a recipient. The request for the transmission of certified electronic mail (from a certified electronic mail sender to a recipient), including the document to be certified, is received by the certification provider. The provider determines the recipient of the message, and also locates the document to be certified, extracts the digital signature, produces an identification code, and associates the identification code and the digital signature. The message is transmitted to the recipient, possibly including a note indicating that the message is being transmitted using certified electronic mail from the sender. Electronic mail can also be used to transmit the identification code and any other desired information corresponding to the certification requester (sender). Optionally, the certification provider can positively verify that the electronic mail was transmitted to the recipient, or wait a predetermined amount of time for a notice of non-delivery, prior to transmitting a confirmation to the certification requester. Verification would also be available using electronic mail communication. The certified document (such as the message itself) and the corresponding identification code are received by the certification provider using electronic mail. The maintained certification information is used to obtain the digital certification signature (from prior certification) associated with the identification code. Then a digital signature is extracted from the document alleged to have been previously certified (the verification signature), and the verification signature is compared to the certification signature to determine whether they match. Matching signatures indicates positive verification of prior certification. Results can be sent by electronic mail to the verification requester.
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“What
Callahan Paul E.
Chung Phung M.
Fenwick & West LLP
Timestamp.com, Inc.
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