New pending patent applications are published on Thursdays. This week's Spotlight Applications continue the theme of smart contracts (blockchains, distributed ledgers) and rights management broadly construed. Assigned to Ericsson (SE), the first application discloses techniques for managing service access authorization using smart contracts. Assigned to Commissioner For Atomic Energy And Alternative Energies, the second application discloses techniques for authentication of a blockchain user with a smart contract.
20210075870, "Method and apparatus for managing service access authorization using smart contracts," assigned to Ericsson (SE)
Abstract
Methods and systems for authorizing the access of a service are described. A server is operative to receive a request to subscribe to a service. The server is to receive from the requestor a selected service offer from the set of service offers, where the selected service offer is cryptographically signed with the private key of the requestor and the private key of the service. The server is further to record a delegation contract into a blockchain database, where the delegation contract includes an identification of the service, an identification of the requestor, and the service offer that is cryptographically signed with the private keys of the requestor and the service. The server is to transmit, to the requestor, a confirmation that the service can be accessed based on the selected service offer; and transmit to the service the delegation contract causing the service to provide access to the requestor.
20210073796, "Method of selective authentication of a blockchain user with a smart contract," assigned to Commissioner For Atomic Energy And Alternative Energies (CEA) (FR).
Abstract
This invention relates to a method of selectively authenticating a user of a blockchain with a smart contract deployed on said blockchain. The user has a hierarchical deterministic keys wallet comprising a path between the user's master private key and a private key specific to the smart contract, this path comprising a plurality of branches each carrying an index, the smart contract being univocally identified by one or several indices of branches followed by said path. The user can issue a transaction from an issuing account address, obtained by hashing the public key corresponding to said specific private key in an asymmetric cryptosystem, and can sign this transaction using the specific private key. The smart contract uses the signature to verify that the transaction was really issued from the issuing account address in question.
