Title of Invention

A METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR AUTHENTICATION OF DIGITAL DOCUMENTS

Abstract

This invention provides an arrangement and method for time defined real-time contracts that will be authenticated by contractors signatures with the help of MFP device, writing pad and time server. According to the invention, a writing pad is used to capture the signature and it is attached to the document to be authenticated after signature verification along with date and time provided by a time seNer. The MFP device with password protection is used to attach the signature, time and date to the document to send/receive the authenticated documents and also to make a hard copy of the same.

Full Text

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the field of multi-function peripheral devices (MFP) serving as peripheral devices of any information-processing device such as a personal computer. Further, this invention relates to the use of an MFP device for the purpose of authentication of digital documents. More specifically the invention relates to the authentication of time-defined contracts through MFP device using signature inputted through writing pad. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART MFP device can perform a plurality of functions including scanner function for retrieving an image of a document and producing image data accordingly, a printer function for printing an image on a desired recording sheet based on image data and a facsimile modem function for modulating image data and then transmitting the image data over transmission line such as telephone line, demodulating the image data inputted over the transmission line. Therefore, an MFP can be used as a copying machine using the scanner function and printer function and also as a facsimile modem scanner function, the printer function and facsimile modem function. It is also an advantage of the MFP device that using multi-task processing plurality of functions can be simultaneously operated by sequentially and cyclically devoting time of its control unit to perform different tasks. US Patents 6,388,761, 6,373,582 and 6,195,172 explain and illustrate the working of an MFP device very clearly. A multi-function device can be used for signature authentication of digital documents with the help of writing pads. Writing pads are used for entering information into data processors such as microcomputers. They enable a user to enter a sketch into the data processor by writing on the surface of the pad. As each point on the sketch is written, the pad senses its location and delivers analog signals corresponding to that location. The analog signals can be converted into digital signals from which the two-coordinate position of the point can be determined. Granted US Patent 4,638,118 describes a writing pad in which a grid of electrical elements defines an array of discrete locations on the writing surface and a digital circuitry is connected to the grid to determine the locations at which writing stimuli are being received. The writing surface is scanned to identify the co-ordinate value along one dimension of a patent at which the writing stimuli are being received. Another type of writing pad is described in US patent 5,575,506, which explains erasable writing pads releasable secured to the clip of a standard tape measure and the said patent helps in understanding the flexibility of using a writing pad. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of this invention is to invent a method and arrangement for real-time authentication of contract documents, which is unique. It is another object of the present invention to make the provision for time-defined contracts that will be authenticated by contractor's signatures with the help of MFP device writing pad and timeserver along with signature verification. The present invention provides a very effective arrangement for real-time authentication of contract documents in the areas of management, banking, software industry project proposals, employment etc. According to the present invention, a writing pad is used to capture the signature and it is attached to the document to be authenticated along with date and time provided by a time server The MFP device which comprises login and password mechanism to enhance authenticity is used to attach the signature, time and date to the document and to send/receive the authenticated documents and also to make a hard copy of the same thereby providing a very effective arrangement for real-time authentication of contract documents in the areas of management, banking, software industry project proposals, employment etc. Accordingly, the invention explains a method for real-time authentication of contract documents wherein each party to the contract is provided with an MFP device connected to a time server and a writing pad attached to the MFP, where a first party sends the said document to the second party initially and later the second party sends the duly executed document characterized in that a signature is attached by a first party on the document obtained using a first writing pad after getting the time stamp from the time server when the document is sent to the second party by the first party and a signature is attached by the second party on the said document obtained using a second writing pad after getting the time stamp from the time server when the second party receives the said document. Accordingly, this invention further explains an arrangement for real-time authentication of contract documents comprising: (a) a first writing pad connected to a first MFP device which interacts with the first party to the contract and which enables to send a signed contract document to a second party; (b) a second writing pad connected to a second MFP device which interacts with the second party to the contract and which enables to send a signed contract document back to the first party; and (c) a time server to which the said first and said second MFP devices are connected to time stamp the said signing of the document, where the said document authentication is carried out using a communication network. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from reading of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS Figure 1 and 1A represent the block diagram of a writing pad defined in the prior art as available in the US patent document no. US 4,638,118. Figure 2 illustrates the operation of the above-mentioned writing pad. Figure 3 indicates the process of attaching signature and time stamp on the document. Figure 4 is an example of signature that will be printed on the document. Figure 5 shows the arrangement according to the present invention, which enables the real-time authentication. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. Before explaining the various aspects and details of the present invention a preliminary discussion which refers to Figures 1, 1A and 2 is made herein in order to give an idea regarding how writing pads function. Figure 1 and Figure 1A give a block diagram pertaining to a writing pad according to the US patent 4,638,118. A person skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that in the writing pad a grid of electrical elements defines an array of discrete locations on the writing surface with a density of at least 100 times (50=5000) locations per square inch, and an electronic circuitry is connected to the grid to determine the locations at which writing stimuli are being received. The said circuitry is adapted to determine the locations at which writing stimuli are being received. In other aspects, the said circuitry is used to identify the upper and lower boundaries along one dimension of the writing surface, of a local region at which writing stimuli are being received. Identification of upper and lower boundaries are done by upper priority and lower priority encoders. The writing surface is scanned to identify the coordinate value along one dimension of a point at which writing stimuli are being received, by scanning respectively different predetermined portions of the writing surface along that one dimension, all of the portions being scanned simultaneously. A local zone is defined in the vicinity of an identified point of touching, and limits the scanning to that local zone; and a portion of the writing surface includes key zones and a particular digital symbol is generated in response to writing stimuli being received at any of the locations corresponding to one of the key zones. Now the operation of the writing pad is described with reference to Figure 2. It is apparent from Figure 2 that the writing area or the signing unit receives the user input and processes it to generate input data using the control processor (analysis unit) and also stores the data in a memory. The writing pad identifies a point of touching by scanning sequences of electrical lines each corresponding to successive positions along one of two coordinates, which defines a local zone around an identified point of touching and limits the scanning to that local zone. The local zone is contains and is centered on the identified point of touching. The limited scanning of the local zone is not done unless a point of touching has been identified within a predetermined prior period of time. Touching a point on a writing surface of the pad causes contact between first conductive stripe belonging to one set of parallel stripes and a second conductive stripe belonging to a second set of stripes, the two sets being arranged respectively along to two co-ordinates, and scanning circuitry identifies the point of touching by identifying the first and second stripes which are in contact. The writing pad in which a portion of the writing surface includes a writing region for entering freedom information and a keyboard region for entering characters and commands; and there are several of the key zones arranged in rows and columns separate by spaces. The bitmap image of signature etc. stored in the memory as illustrated above will be used for printing on to the document. The signature thus obtained is verified for its authenticity using signature verification method which is embedded in the MFP patents US5111512,US 5680470, US 5818955 and US 6587577 further describes signature verification methods. As indicated in Figure 3, the MFP gets the above image data and embeds the data into the scanned document after verification. An example of the signature that will be printed on the document is shown in Figure 4. The MFP device is provided with login and password mechanism to enhance authenticity. The arrangement used for the real-time authentication according to the invention is presented now with reference to Figure 5. It is understood from the figure that it has an MFP and writing pad for the first user, a time server and another MFP and writing pad for the second user. The time server helps in providing a time stamp, which assures the event (putting of signature) time. The date and time details are generated dynamically by the time server. The signature captured by the writing pad and the time stamp defines the event and its authenticity. The event will be merged with the functionalities of MFP and will be attached to the inputted document before sending it. In the foregoing description event refers to the inputting of the signature. The detailed steps of performing the invention are as follows: 1. User 1 inputs the document; 2. MFP 1 scans and stores the document; 3. The signature 1 of user 1 is captured by writing pad; 4. The MFP 1 receives the signature 1 from the Writing pad; 5. MFP 1 requests the Time Stamp 1 (Time of step 3) from external Time server; 6. MFP 1 receives the Time Stamp 1 send by the Time Server; 7. MFP 1 sends the Signature 1, Time Stamp 1 and the scanned document to MFP 2; 8. MFP 1 waits for acknowledgement from MFP 2; 9. MFP 2 receives the document sent by MFP 1; 10. MFP 2 stores the Signature 1, Time Stamp 1 and document in Memory; 11. User 2 can print the document for reviewing. This print out will not hold the signature and time stamp of user1. 12. User 2 acknowledges his acceptance by signing in write pad. 13. The signature 2 of user 2 is captured by writing pad. 14. The MFP2 receives the signature 2 from the Writing pad. 15. MFP2 requests the Time Stamp2 (Time stamp of step 13) from external Time server. 16. MFP2 receives the Time Stamp2 send by the Time Server. 17. MFP2 adds the Signature1, Signature2 and Time Stamp1, Time Stamp2 to the document in memory. 18. MFP2 sends the document in memory to MFP1. 19. MFP2 prints the document. This document contains the signatures and time stamps of both users. 20. MFP1 receives the document and Prints it. This document contains the signatures and time stamps of both users. MFP login and password mechanisms also can enhance the authenticity. According to the present invention, the contracts are authenticated with contractor's signatures in a time defined manner and all the transactions are ordered in time. It is also an advantage of the invention that all functionalities such as scanning, printing, scan to e-mail etc. can also be time defined and therefore the time in which a contract has to be made is controlled. It is yet another advantage of the invention that along with time stamp, dialing and dialed numbers also can be added automatically by MFP. Further, this invention could be implemented for any number of MFP devices corresponding to the number of parties to the contract to be authenticated can serially receive the documents for capturing and verifying the signatures and respective time stamp of each of the parties. The present invention provides a very effective arrangement for real time authentication of contract documents in the areas of management, banking, software industry project proposals, employment etc. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted above. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a computer, rendering device or a multi function device. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom. WE CLAIM 1. A method for real-time authentication of contract documents wherein each party to the contract is provided with an MFP device connected to a time server and a writing pad attached to the MFP, where a first party sends the said document to the second party initially and later the second party sends the duly executed document characterized in that a signature is attached by a first party on the document obtained using a first writing pad after getting the time stamp from the time server when the document is sent to the second party by the first party and a signature is attached by the second party on the said document obtained using a second writing pad after getting the time stamp from the time server when the second party receives the said document. 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the said time stamp includes date and time details generated dynamically from the server. 3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the MFP device automatically attaches the dialing and dialed numbers to the said document along with the time stamp. 4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the signature is merged with functionalities of MFP to time define the said functionalities. 5. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the functionalities of MFP includes printing and scanning. 6. The method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the said document is adapted to undergo signature verification by either party once the signature gets attached in the document. 7. The method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the signature verification can be authorized using a login and password. 8. The method according to any of the preceding claims where at least one party to the said contract can sign and authenticate the contract. 9. An arrangement for real-time authentication of contract documents comprising: a. a first writing pad connected to a first MFP device which interacts with the first party to the contract and which enables to send a signed contract document to a second party; b. a second writing pad connected to a second MFP device which interacts with the second party to the contract and which enables to send a signed contract document back to the first party; and c. a time server to which the said first and said second MFP devices are connected to time stamp the said signing of the document, where the said document authentication is carried out using a communication network. 10. The arrangement according to claim 9 wherein the said first and second MFP devices comprises: a. scanning means for capturing the signatures entered on the writing pad; b. time server memory unit for attaching the time stamp on the contract document; and c. network for sending or receiving the said contract document. 11. A system for real-time authentication of contract document substantially as herein above described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1080-che-2004-abstract.pdf

1080-che-2004-claims.pdf

1080-che-2004-correspondnece-others.pdf

1080-che-2004-correspondnece-po.pdf

1080-che-2004-description(complete).pdf

1080-che-2004-drawings.pdf

1080-che-2004-form 1.pdf

1080-che-2004-form 13.pdf

1080-che-2004-form 26.pdf

1080-che-2004-form 5.pdf