Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/048—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
  • G06F3/0487—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
  • G06F3/0488—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
  • G06F3/04883—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
  • G06F21/30—Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
  • G06F21/31—User authentication
  • G06F21/32—User authentication using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
  • H04W12/06—Authentication
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
  • H04L63/0861—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to methods and systems to capture and validate signatures on electronic devices.
• a method and a system in accordance with the principles of the present invention generally mitigate at least some shortcomings of prior art methods and systems by allowing the required signature to be captured on a mobile device which can be remote from the item or items requiring a signature.
• a method to capture and validate a signature in accordance with the principles of the present invention, generally comprises three main stages.
• the method generally comprises creating a user account on the company's or merchant's server and then displaying or transmitting instructions to the signee on how to capture his signature using his mobile device.
• a mobile device is a device having access to a communication network and which comprises a touch sensitive screen.
• Non-limitative examples of such mobile devices include smart phones (e.g. iPhoneTM, iPodTM Touch, etc.), tablet computers (e.g. iPadTM, etc.).
• the instructions can be simply display to him. Otherwise, if the signee is at a remote location, the instructions will be transmitted to him, typically, but not exclusively, by email.
• the method typically proceeds to the second stage in which the method generally comprises prompting the signee to log in his user account and then capture his signature by using his finger (or fingers) or a stylus on the touch sensitive screen of his mobile device. Once the signature is captured, it is transmitted to a secure validation server where it is compared to previously captured signature in order to determine whether or not the captured signature is forged.
• the comparison of the captured signature with previously captured signatures can be performed using available calligraphy analysis tools. [0013] In some embodiments, the comparison can be performed by third parties.
• validation server determines that the captured signature is possibly forged, further analyses can be performed by a human operator.
• the company or merchant will be notified that the captured signature can be retrieved. Otherwise, the company or merchant will be notified that the captured signature is forged and the company or merchant will be prevented from retrieving the captured signature.
• the transmittal of notifications to the company or merchant is made between the validation server and the company's or merchant's server via a communication network (e.g. the Internet, a cellular network, etc.).
• a communication network e.g. the Internet, a cellular network, etc.
• the company or merchant will retrieve the captured signature from the validation server and will store it in its server, in association with the item or items that needed a signature, and will notify the signee that the item or items have been signed.
• the method can comprise other steps or stages as needed.
• both servers could be the same if, for instance, the items' accounts and the signees' account, and the validation are respectively stored and performed on the same server.
• Figure 1 is a flow chart of a portion of the method to capture and validate a signature using a mobile device in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
• Figure 2 is a flow chart of another portion of the method to capture and validate a signature using a mobile device in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
• Figure 3 is a flow chart of still another portion of the method to capture and validate a signature using a mobile device in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
• Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a system in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
• the method 10 for capturing and validating a signature using a mobile device comprises several steps which are more or less partitioned in several stages.
• the method 10 generally comprises three main stages 100, 200 and 300.
• the different stages generally concern different periods in the overall process of capturing and validating a signature using a mobile device.
• a mobile device is a device having access to a communication network (e.g. the Internet, a cellular network, etc.) and which comprises a touch sensitive screen.
• a communication network e.g. the Internet, a cellular network, etc.
• Non-limitative examples of mobile devices include smart phones comprising touch sensitive screens and tablet computers comprising touch sensitive screens.
• the first stage 100 of the method 10 generally encompasses the creating of an account and the displaying or transmitting of instructions on how to sign using the mobile device.
• the first stage 100 starts, at 1 10, by the creation, by a company, a merchant, or any other party (hereinafter "merchant"), of an item that needs the signature of a signee, typically, but not exclusively a customer.
• a company a company
• a merchant any other party
• Non- limitative examples of other parties include notaries, mortgage lenders, insurance companies, lawyers, etc.
• the term “item” must be construed broadly to include documents, transactions, approval, debit notes, etc.
• the merchant verifies whether it has established an account for the customer. If an account does exist for the customer, i.e. the account has already been established, then the merchant retrieves, at 130, a unique code from a database located on its server, the unique code being associated with the customer and its account.
• the merchant If no account has yet been established for the customer, the merchant, at 140, performs an API call to a validation server to create a new customer account and to generate a new unique code. Then, at 150, the validation server, having created the new account and generated the unique code associated with the new account, transmits back the unique code to the merchant. The unique code received by the merchant is then stored in the merchant database at 160 for future retrieval (e.g. step 130). [0035] Once the unique code has been retrieved, the merchant then performs, at 170, an API call to the validation server to create a new pending item.
• the merchant can either show the customer how to sign the pending item using his mobile device (at 180) or can send instructions to the customer, typically via email, on how to sign the pending item using his mobile device (at 190).
• the customer has an account with the merchant and has been shown or instructed on how to sign the pending item using his mobile device.
• the second stage 200 generally encompasses the actual capture of the signature of the customer using his mobile device. In that sense, after the customer has installed the signature application on his mobile device, the application will prompt the customer, at 210, to enter his unique code, his email address and his password (collectively referred to as his credential information).
• the application will perform an API call to the validation server to validate the credential information submitted by the customer and to retrieve the pending item(s) that need to be signed.
• the pending items will be displayed on the screen of the customer's mobile device.
• the pending items are typically displayed as a list, allowing the customer to easily see most, if not all, pending items. The customer can thus choose which item or items he wants to sign. In that sense, it is to be understood that the list of pending items can include items from different merchants if several merchants are registered with the validation server.
• the customer will first select one or more pending items that need its signature, and will then uses his finger (or fingers) or a stylus and the touch sensitive screen of its mobile device to have his signature captured.
• the application will typically prompt the customer to enter his signature via a specific display.
• the customer can restart the capture of his signature if, for instance, the signature was improperly entered on the touch sensitive screen.
• the application will transmit the captured signature to the validation server (at 240). At this point, the customer does not need to perform other actions. However, the second stage 200 continues to 250 where the validation server, having received the captured signature, validates it against previously captured signatures, if any, stored on the validation server. This validation is performed in order to screen out possibly forged signatures.
• the validation server will place the item or items in alert and will prevent the merchant from retrieving the signature until the signature has been validated by a human operator.
• the human operator will determine whether or not the captured signature is forged. This determination can be made with the assistance of signature analysis tools or calligraphy analysis tools. Such tools are available. [0046] If the human operator determines that the captured signature is not forged, i.e. the captured signature is valid, then the second stage 200 will proceed at 280 where the server will remove the alert on the item or items and will allow the merchant to retrieve the captured signature. [0047] Otherwise, if the human operator determines that the captured signature is forged, then the second stage 200 will proceed at 290 where the server will notify the merchant that captured signature is forged. [0048] Though not shown in Fig.
• a warning email will typically be sent to the customer's email address in order to inform him that there has been an attempt to forge his signature. Also, the customer's account could possibly be frozen until the forgery attempt has been properly taken care of.
• the method 10 will typically proceed to the third stage 300 which is illustrated in Fig. 3 in greater details.
• the third stage 300 typically encompasses the retrieval of the captured signature and the completion of the signing of the item or items.
• the validation server will make an API call to the validation server, at 310, to actually retrieve the signature for the pending item or items.
• the validation server receives the retrieval request at 320, it will perform a look-up in the database to fetch the signature, if available, and will then transmit the signature back to the merchant.
• the merchant will store the signature within its database and will associate the signature with the pending item or items.
• the merchant will notify the customer, directly or through an email, that the pending item or items have been signed.
• the three stages 100, 200 and 300 of the method could be performed in one continuous sequence, they could also be performed in a discontinuous sequence.
• the first stage 100 could be performed on a given day
• the second stage 200 could be performed the next day or even later
• the third stage 300 could be performed some days after the second stage 200 is completed.
• the method 10 in accordance with the principles of the present invention generally allows a more convenient way of having item signed by avoiding the need for the customer to be physically present and by avoiding the need for the whole signing sequence to be performed in a continuous fashion.
• FIG. 4 an example of a system 400 allowing the method described above to be performed is depicted.
• the system 400 generally comprises a merchant server 410 comprising a computer system 412 and a database 414, a typically remote validation server 420 comprising a computer system 422 and a database 424, at least one mobile device 430 comprising a touch-sensitive screen (three are shown), and a communication network 440 (e.g. the Internet, a cellular network, etc.) which allows communication between the merchant server 410, the validation server 420 and the at least one mobile device 430.
• a communication network 440 e.g. the Internet, a cellular network, etc.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Software Systems (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
• Collating Specific Patterns (AREA)
• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
• Computer And Data Communications (AREA)
• Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)

Priority Applications (9)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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• 2012
  • 2012-08-24 SG SG11201400104RA patent/SG11201400104RA/en unknown
  • 2012-08-24 RU RU2014110737/08A patent/RU2014110737A/ru not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2012-08-24 WO PCT/CA2012/000790 patent/WO2013026147A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-08-24 CN CN201280052070.0A patent/CN103959830A/zh active Pending
  • 2012-08-24 CA CA2849959A patent/CA2849959A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-08-24 EP EP12825512.2A patent/EP2749053A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2012-08-24 BR BR112014004196A patent/BR112014004196A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2012-08-24 MX MX2014002173A patent/MX2014002173A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2012-08-24 JP JP2014526346A patent/JP2014531628A/ja active Pending
  • 2012-08-24 AU AU2012300151A patent/AU2012300151A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (2)

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