Process for implementing a method for the on-line sale of software product use licenses through a data network, and software component which allows carrying out said process

Abstract

Online sale of software product use licenses through a data network by offering software products (SOFT) through vendor sites, purchasing a license on-line on one of said vendor sites, and activating said license on-line by a different licensing site. A specific component (COMP) is provided with the software product (SOFT) and identifying data (IDV) of the vendor site are transmitted during the download of the software product (SOFT). When the component (COMP) is executed in an equipment, the component (COMP) locally accesses said data (IDV) and identifying data (IDL) of the licensing site and activates the license by setting up an on-line communication with the licensing site.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)[0001]This application is related to and claims priority to Spanish Application No. 200602849 filed Nov. 10, 2006 and is incorporated by reference herein.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field[0003]The invention is included in the field of on-line sales of software products through a data network, for example, the Internet.[0004]According to an aspect of the embodiments, a process, including an apparatus and computer readable medium thereof, of on-line sale of software product use licenses through a data network, are provided by:[0005]offering online each of said software products to be downloaded online, by a plurality of vendor sites;[0006]offering for purchase online a use license for one of said software products offered by one of said vendor sites and downloaded on-line; and[0007]authorizing activation of said use license on-line by a licensing site different from said vendor sites.[0008]The embodiments also comprise a software component which allows ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018]The new method of on-line sale designed by the applicant combines the advantages of indirect sales through distributors (multiplication of sales channels and reduction or elimination of its own sales structure) with the advantages of direct sales (the possibility of delivering the software product on-line, without a physical carrier).

[0021]When the data network in which this method is implemented is Internet, the licensing site is normally the website of a software manufacturing company and the vendor sites are websites of distribution companies which can be independent of the manufacturing company. The advantage of this new method is that the software manufacturing company multiplies the range for spreading its software products and at the same time it is released from the obligation of having to manage the downloading and the payment for its software product.

[0029]One example purpose of the invention is to provide a process for implementing said new method of on-line sale designed by the applicant, which allows providing the licensing site, in a safe and effective manner, with the identifying data of the vendor site which has offered the software product for its on-line download and in which a use license has been purchased, such that the identifying data of the vendor site can be provided at the time in which the end user needs to activate the use license for the software product, and all of the above such that a licensing site can distribute its software product according to this method of sale without needing to adapt the software product for each vendor site.

[0034]The technical problems set forth are solved due to the fact that the identifying data of the vendor site are transferred during the software product downloading process, and to the fact that the software product incorporates said software component, which does not need to be customized for each vendor site, and is able to locally retrieve, in the equipment where the software product is being executed, the identifying data of the vendor site and of the licensing site. This solution further allows preserving the own or existing copy protection system of existing software products, given that the component can be incorporated in the software product and executed without interfering with said protection system. Nevertheless, as will be seen below in the description of several embodiments of the invention, the process for activating the use license applied by the component is by itself a copy protection system.

[0037]The process according to the invention provides that the identifying data of the licensing site can be incorporated in the software product or in the software component. This last solution offers the advantage that the software manufacturing company can have a licensing site different from its main site, therefore the management of the former is facilitated. To that end, the software product incorporates therein, as usual, identifying data including the URL address of the main webpage of said company, whereas the software component incorporates therein the identifying data of the licensing site. Another advantage is that a single software component serves to integrate the identifying data of the licensing site in all the software products.

[0039]Preferably, said on-line purchase on a vendor site of a use license for the software product preferably comprises a transmission of a purchase receipt from said vendor site, and when said software component is executed in said equipment, it locally accesses said purchase receipt and transmits it to the licensing site during the on-line communication during which the software component obtains said activation data from said licensing site. A guarantee that the purchase has been made on one of the authorized vendor sites is thus offered to the licensing site in a particularly efficient and robust manner. The purchase receipt advantageously includes identifying data of the vendor site. Said on-line purchase also preferably comprises setting up an on-line communication between said vendor site and said licensing site, during which said vendor site transmits a purchase receipt to said licensing site. In this way, the licensing site knows that the use license has been purchased and can claim payment of its corresponding part, without needing to wait until the purchaser had installed the software product in an equipment.

Problems solved by technology

This distribution in the form of a physical product is not very efficient compared to the on-line downloading of the software product from a website because it uses human and energy resources and raw materials.

The implementation of this new method for the on-line sale of software products, or more specifically the method for the on-line sale of use licenses for software products, has a series of technical problems which make it difficult to carry out.

Images