Tokenized Templates for Rights Management System Complexity

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing Rights Management systems face challenges in efficiently creating, modifying, parsing, and validating rights expressions due to their complexity and the need for detailed knowledge of Rights Expression Languages (RELs), which hinders user convenience and system resource efficiency.

Innovation Solution

A system utilizing tokenized templates that allow users to create and manipulate rights expressions without extensive knowledge of RELs, using placeholder tokens that can be replaced with data items, enabling the generation of well-formed and valid licenses, and supporting lightweight operation across various system architectures.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If Rights Management systems use detailed Rights Expression Languages (RELs) to precisely control access rights, then the precision of rights control is improved, but the complexity of the system increases and user convenience deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of rights controlVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the complex REL into structured templates with predefined components (grant, principal, resource, right, condition elements). Each template represents a specific rights scenario (e.g., pay-per-view, subscription, superdistribution), breaking down the monolithic REL into manageable, reusable segments that reduce system complexity while maintaining precise rights control.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces templates as an intermediary layer between users and the underlying REL. Templates act as mediators that translate user-friendly rights specifications into precise REL expressions, shielding users from REL complexity while ensuring accurate rights control through the structured template framework.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If Rights Management systems require detailed knowledge of RELs for creating and manipulating rights expressions, then the precision of rights specification is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of rights specificationVSAvoiduser convenience
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses template copying and instantiation mechanisms where predefined REL templates can be copied and customized for specific scenarios. Users copy appropriate templates and fill in parameter-specific details rather than constructing complete REL expressions from scratch, maintaining precision through template structure while dramatically improving ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary action by pre-defining validated REL templates that encode correct REL syntax and semantics. The work of creating precise REL expressions has been done in advance through template design, so users only need to select and parameterize templates rather than construct complex REL expressions, improving ease of operation while preserving specification precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If Rights Management systems implement comprehensive validation and parsing of rights expressions, then the reliability of rights enforcement is improved, but the system resource usage increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereliability of rights enforcementVSAvoidsystem resource usage
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs validation and parsing work in advance during template design and registration. Templates are pre-validated against REL grammar and semantics, so runtime processing only requires parameter validation rather than complete expression validation, maintaining reliability while reducing resource consumption during actual rights enforcement operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments validation into template-level validation (performed once during template creation) and instance-level validation (performed during license generation). This segmentation avoids redundant validation work, ensuring reliability through comprehensive validation while minimizing resource usage by validating only necessary components at each stage.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS9898715B2Systems and methods for creating, manipulating and processing rights and contract expressions using tokenized templates
Publication Date: 2018.02.20 CONTENTGUARD INC
  • US9898715B2 patent drawing
  • US9898715B2 patent drawing
  • US9898715B2 patent drawing

AI summary

System and methods for manipulating rights expressions for use in connection with a rights management system include one or more tokenized templates. Each tokenized template includes one or more rights expression language statements and one or more tokens associated with at least one of the rights expression language statements. Further, the tokens can be place holders for data items or rights expression elements. The system further includes a license template module that creates the tokenized templates, and a license instance creation module that replaces at least one of the tokens in one or more selected license templates with one or more of the data items or rights expression elements to generate a license instance. Additionally, the system includes a license instance analysis module having sub-modules for validating and interpreting license instances, and a data parsing module for extracting data from created license instances.