Digital Certificate Templates for Decentralized Trust Verification

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional digital certificate systems are vulnerable to cyber attacks, rely on a single point of failure, and lack flexibility in supporting certification across different domains, leading to security risks and inefficiencies.

Innovation Solution

A decentralized digital certificate system using smart contracts on Blockchain to partially or fully delegate the issuance process, categorizing attributes into computable and endorsed categories, and implementing templates and metadata stores for flexible and secure certificate issuance and verification.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional CA-based digital certificate system is used, then certificate issuance and verification can be achieved, but security risks increase due to vulnerability to cyber attacks and single point of failure

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesecurityVSAvoidcyber attack vulnerability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the trust verification function from centralized CAs and distributes it across multiple distributed validators in a blockchain network. Each validator independently verifies certificate issuance according to predefined rules, eliminating the single point of failure at the CA while maintaining certificate validation capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the centralized CA authority into multiple distributed validators across the blockchain network. Instead of one central entity issuing and verifying certificates, multiple nodes collectively perform these functions, distributing trust and reducing vulnerability to attacks on any single entity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If traditional CA-based digital certificate system is used, then certificate issuance can be achieved, but system flexibility is limited for supporting different domains

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedomain flexibilityVSAvoidsystem structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a universal blockchain-based certificate system that can serve multiple domains (education, professional certification, identity verification, etc.) through a single flexible framework. The system uses configurable verification rules and attribute schemas that can be adapted to different domain requirements without requiring separate infrastructure for each domain.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces dynamic and configurable verification rules that can be adjusted based on domain-specific requirements. The system allows flexible definition of attribute schemas, validation criteria, and trust models that can be modified to accommodate different certification domains while maintaining a consistent underlying architecture.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Productivity

If traditional CA-based digital certificate system is used, then certificate verification can be achieved, but processing time is extended due to manual verification processes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveverification speedVSAvoidverification time

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements automated self-service verification where the blockchain system automatically validates certificate authenticity and checks verification rules without requiring manual intervention from CA operators. The distributed validators independently verify certificates against the blockchain ledger and predefined rules, enabling rapid automated verification while maintaining security.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

4Reliability

If decentralized smart contract-based issuance is implemented, then trusted authority reliance is reduced, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetrust independenceVSAvoidsystem architecture

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces smart contracts as intermediary automated validators that mediate between certificate applicants and the blockchain network. These smart contracts encode verification rules and automatically execute validation logic, serving as programmable intermediaries that reduce reliance on human-operated trusted authorities while providing structured verification processes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS12537697B2Digital certificates

Publication Date: 2026.01.27 COMMONWEALTH SCI & IND RES ORG

AI summary

This disclosure relates to a certificate computer system. A rules store stores, for a template identifier, template identifiers of dependency certificates, attribute paths, and functions to compute output certificate attributes. A certificate metadata store stores, for a certificate identifier, a validity state, certificate identifiers of dependency certificates, and a hash value. A processor generates a certificate by receiving a request comprising a template identifier and dependency certificates. The processor queries a rules store to retrieve a template, and computes a value for the attributes by applying a function from the rules store on attribute values of the dependency certificates. The processor creates the output certificate including the computed value for the computed attributes. The processor may further verify an input certificate by comparing a hash value to the certificate metadata store and retrieving certificate identifiers of dependencies associated with the certificate identifier and checks if dependency certificates are valid.