Patexia contests ask you to find, submit, and explain references that respond to our research criteria. If you are new, see patent and prior art basics and tips for Patexia's prior art contests, and refer to the submission notes below. The following questions will help you understand specifically what we are looking for in this study.

In this contest we are seeking prior art; published examples of an idea or invention before a specific date.

Problem Definition
Patexia seeks prior art for US Patent 5,579,222 (‘222), titled “Distributed license administration system using a local policy server to communicate with a license server and control execution of computer programs.” This patent allegedly describes a type of concurrent licensing system for licensing application programs.

We are searching for two separate features. Providing prior art for either one (or both) of these features will satisfy the contest. The client is particularly interested in computer source code, manuals, descriptions, user guides, white papers, technical articles, and foreign (not U.S.) patents published before November 27th, 1991.

The ‘222 Patent does not actually claim or cover the features described below. Rather, the client is seeking prior art to respond to its opponent’s (incorrect) reading of the ‘222 Patent. The client is also seeking prior art from a universe broader than that covered by the ‘222 Patent, in an effort to capture all potentially relevant art. No one should interpret these features as the client’s belief or understanding of the ‘222 Patent itself.

Description of Feature 1 (Questions 1-12)
Feature 1 concerns a particular computer system architecture for concurrent licensing (see Figure 1 below).

A node is designated on the network to act as a license server and to grant/deny licenses to users running application programs on their computers. Each user computer on the network (only one user computer shown in Figure 1) contains the following three elements:

1. An application program which requires a license to be able to run;
2. A database containing data specifying conditions under which usage of the application program is permitted; and.
3. A computer program (sometimes referred to as a daemon) running as a separate process from the application program. The computer program interfaces with the application program and the database on the node, and further/then/also assists the license server in granting/denying a license to the application according to the following setup:
   1. If the user’s computer has a connection to the network, the computer program makes a request for a license from the license server, on behalf of the application program, and the license server determines whether the application program can run.
   2. If the user’s computer does not have a connection to the network, the computer program determines whether the application program can run. The computer program consults the database for conditions to determine if the user can be granted a license on a temporary basis (e.g., a grace period). The following are examples of a computer program granting/denying permission when the node is disconnected from the network:
      
      Example 1: if the database condition requires that the user has used the application program in the last 24 hours, and the user has not used the application program in the last 24 hours, the computer program will deny the temporary license (assuming no connection to the network). On the other hand, if the application program has been used in the last 24 hours, the computer program will grant the temporary license.
      
      Example 2: if the database condition is that the user must have at least the title of a vice president of the company, and the user is identified as the vice president, the computer program will grant the license. On the other hand, if the user is identified as an engineer, the computer program will deny the license.

Figure 1

Description of Feature 2 (Questions 13-15)
Feature 2 describes a concurrent licensing system where the user can “borrow” a license from the license server. After the license has been borrowed, the user can disconnect his computer (e.g., a laptop) from the network and can run the application program for as long as the borrowed license is valid (e.g., for 3 days).

For example, an engineer in the U.S. may need to travel to Japan for work but must be able to utilize a CAD application program that is under concurrent license administration. Before

disconnecting his computer from the network, the engineer requests to borrow a license from the license server. If the borrowed license is granted, the engineer will be able to use the CAD application program even though he is not connected to the network.

Questions
To enter the contest, Patexia’s system will ask you the following questions. Contestants should focus their search by locating sources which answer these questions, and submitting a concise explanation of why the source(s) respond to a particular question. This explanation should specifically indicate where in the reference we can find the required supporting information. If you do not provide an adequate explanation on how to locate the desired information in your reference, you will not get credit and will not be eligible for contest prizes.

Entries must answer all contest questions. Please refer to the contest description for definitions of “computer program”, “application program”, “licensing server”, … All sources must be clearly dated or they will not be considered.

1. Has the source(s) been published before November 27th, 1991?
2. Does this source describe a concurrent licensing system?
3. Is the computer program local (i.e. on the user’s computer)?
4. Is the computer program running independently of the application program?
5. Does the computer program communicate with the license server on behalf of the application program?
6. Is there a database containing data specifying conditions under which usage of the application program is permitted?
7. Is the database local (i.e. on the user’s computer)?
8. Does the computer program communicate with the database?
9. Does the computer program, when the user’s computer is connected to the network, communicate with the license server on behalf of the application program to request a license?
10. Does the computer program, when the user’s computer is not connected to the network, determine itself (without input from the license server) whether the application program should be granted a license?
11. Is the license granted according to question 10 (if any) done so on a temporary basis?
12. Is the license granted according to question 10 (if any) done so by consulting a database?
13. Does the concurrent licensing system have the capability to borrow a license?
14. Does the concurrent licensing system work in such a way that when a user’s computer is disconnected from the network, the user’s computer can still run the application program?
15. Does the concurrent licensing system work in such a way that if a user’s computer requests a license and then is disconnected from the network, the user’s computer can still run the application program?
16. [user survey question] Can you provide us with more information regarding your qualifications to enter this contest? (no reference needed, simply a short list of any relevant background or qualifications)
17. [user survey question] Can you provide us with more information regarding the time you spent researching this contests? (no reference needed, simply an estimate of the time spent researching this particular contest)
18. [user survey question] Can you provide us with more information regarding the resources and databases you searched for this information? (no reference needed, simply a short list of any sources you used to research this contest)