Management Of Entitlements Using Blockchain

Abstract

Methods for managing entitlements of products and services using blockchain are described. One method includes the steps of storing by a blockchain fabric a ledger that stores transaction data, smart contracts that process transactions, creating an entitlement, receiving by the blockchain a create entitlement transaction request, adding, by the smart contract, an entitlement block to the ledger, issuing by the entitled product a usage transaction that reports usage of the entitled product, upon receiving the usage transaction, adding, by a smart contract, a usage block to the ledger, and determining, by the smart contract, that an entitlement limit has been reached. Another method describes a container mechanism that provides a way to identify all blocks associated with a base entitlement.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for managing entitlements, comprising:
 storing by a blockchain fabric (1) a ledger that comprises a sequence of blocks wherein each block stores data from a transaction request received from an entitlement management service; (2) at least one smart contract, wherein a smart contract processes a transaction on behalf of the blockchain fabric;   creating, by the entitlement management service, an entitlement, wherein an entitlement specifies usage rights for an entitled product;   receiving by the blockchain fabric a create entitlement transaction request from the entitlement management service to add the entitlement to the ledger, wherein the entitlement transaction request specifies the purchased usage rights;   executing by the blockchain fabric a smart contract that corresponds to the create entitlement transaction;   adding to the ledger, by the smart contract, an entitlement block that includes the entitlement transaction data;   issuing a usage transaction, by the entitled product, which reports usage data by the end-user to the blockchain fabric;   upon receiving the usage transaction, executing a corresponding smart contract;   adding to the ledger, by the smart contract, a usage block that includes the usage data;   determining, by the smart contract, based on the cumulative (i) purchased usage rights as specified by the entitlement blocks, and (ii) usage as specified by the usage blocks in the ledger, whether an entitlement limit has been reached; and   sending a response to the entitled product, by the blockchain fabric, for the received usage transaction, the response based on the determination of whether an entitlement limit has been reached.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein creating an entitlement further comprises generating a unique identifier for the entitlement, and wherein the transaction request and the entitlement block include the unique identifier. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 sending, by the end-user, an activation request to the entitled product, the activation request including the unique identifier; 
 issuing, by the entitled product to the blockchain fabric, a product activation transaction request; 
 upon receiving, by the blockchain fabric, the product activation transaction request, executing a smart contract that corresponds to the product activation transaction; and 
 adding, by the smart contract, to the ledger a usage block that includes the product activation transaction data. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the usage rights of an entitlement are selected from the group consisting of a calendar period during which an entitled product may be used, a period of time during which an entitled product may be used, an amount that the entitled product may be used, and a maximum number of seats for which a software component may be installed. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining that the entitlement limit has been reached comprises determining, based on the usage and entitlement blocks in the ledger, that further use of the entitled product by the end-user will exceed the cumulative rights granted by all entitlements currently in-force. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 upon determining that the entitlement limit has been reached, sending a notification to the entitled product that the entitlement limit has been reached. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 upon determining that the entitlement limit has been reached, sending a notification to the entitlement management service that the entitlement limit has been reached. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 upon determining that the entitlement limit has been reached, sending a notification to the vendor that the entitlement limit has been reached. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 upon receiving the notification indicating that the entitlement limit has been reached, enabling, by the vendor, the end-user to purchase an add-on entitlement. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 upon receiving the notification indicating that the entitlement limit has been reached, enabling by the vendor, enabling the end-user to purchase a renewal entitlement that enables the end-user to use the entitled product for an additional period of time. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 upon receiving, by the entitlement management service, a response to the create entitlement transaction indicating that the entitlement has been successfully created, providing information about the entitlement to the vendor. 
 
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method for managing entitlements, comprising:
 storing by a blockchain fabric (1) a ledger that comprises a time sequence of blocks wherein each block stores data from a transaction request received from an entitlement management service, the ledger comprising (i) entitlement blocks that store data corresponding to entitlements, wherein an entitlement is purchased from a vendor and enables an end-user to use an entitled product under a specified set of usage rights, and (ii) usage blocks that store usage data corresponding to usage of an entitled product by an end-user, (2) at least one smart contract, wherein a smart contract processes a transaction on behalf of the blockchain fabric; and (3) a container, wherein a container includes a plurality of blocks that are linked together, the plurality of blocks comprising a first entitlement block that corresponds to a first entitlement;   creating, by the entitlement management service, an add-on entitlement, associated with the first entitlement, that adds usage rights to use the entitled product;   receiving, by the blockchain fabric, an add-on entitlement transaction request from the entitlement management service to add the add-on entitlement to the ledger, wherein the add-on entitlement transaction request specifies the additional purchased usage rights;   executing by the blockchain fabric a smart contract that corresponds to the create add-on entitlement transaction;   adding, by the smart contract, the add-on entitlement to the ledger and linking the add-on entitlement to the most recently added block in the container;   receiving a usage transaction from the entitled product that reports usage data by the end-user;   adding to the ledger a usage block that includes the usage data and linking the usage block to the most recently added block in the container;   determining, based on the cumulative (i) purchased usage rights as specified by the entitlement blocks and add-on entitlement blocks, and (ii) usage as specified by the usage blocks in the ledger, whether an entitlement limit has been reached; and   sending a response to the entitled product, by the blockchain fabric, for the received usage transaction, the response based on the determination of whether an entitlement limit has been reached.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 after creating the add-on entitlement, issuing by the entitlement management service, a request to the blockchain for information about all blocks linked to the first entitlement block;   upon receiving from the blockchain the information about all linked blocks, issuing a verification request to the vendor, the verification request including the information about all linked blocks;   verifying, by the vendor, that the product configuration that corresponds to the linked blocks is acceptable; and   providing, by the vendor, a response to the verification request.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the usage rights of an entitlement are selected from the group consisting of a calendar period during which an entitled product may be used, a period of time during which an entitled product may be used, an amount that the entitled product may be used, and a maximum number of seats for which a software component may be installed. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein verifying that the product configuration is acceptable comprises determining that the vendor's configuration rules allow the end-user to purchase the requested add-on entitlement given the entitlements currently in-force for the entitled product. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  wherein creating the add-on entitlement further comprises generating a unique identifier for the entitlement, and wherein the transaction request and the entitlement block include the unique identifier. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising:
 providing, by the entitlement management service, information about the entitlement to the vendor, the information including the unique identifier. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the add-on entitlement is a renewal entitlement that extends the length of time of an earlier entitlement in the container during which the end-user can use the entitled product. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented method for managing entitlements, comprising:
 storing, by a tag manager, data included in transaction requests in a tag database, wherein a transaction request corresponds to an entitlement that specifies usage condition for an entitled product;   creating, by an entitlement management service, an entitlement;   receiving by the tag manager a create entitlement transaction request from the entitlement management service to add the entitlement data to the tag database;   adding to the database, by the tag manager, the entitlement data;   receiving, by the tag manager, a usage transaction from the entitled product that reports usage data by entitled product; and   upon receiving the usage transaction reporting usage by the tag manager, determining whether a usage condition has been violated.