Patent ID: 9699195
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: G06F,H04L

Claim:
1. A license management device comprising: a network interface connected, via a network, to one or more distribution servers, the one or more distribution servers being configured to manage distribution of one or more application programs, and the one or more distribution servers being set to provide for different distribution areas; and circuitry configured to: generate a license identifier and license information corresponding to a purchased group of one or more application programs from the one or more distribution servers, the license identifier being associated with a group identifier of the purchased group of the one or more application programs, the license identifier being associated with the license information corresponding to the purchased group of the one or more application programs; store, in a memory, identifier information of the one or more distribution servers and the group identifier of the purchased group of the one or more application programs in association with respective product identifiers of the one or more application programs of the purchased group, the group identifier of the purchased group of the one or more application programs being associated with the one or more distribution servers based on a corresponding distribution area; record, in the memory, the license identifier corresponding to the group identifier of the purchased group of the one or more application programs in association with the respective product identifiers of the one or more application programs of the purchased group; determine, on receiving the generated license identifier associated with the group identifier of the purchased group of at least one of the one or more application programs, whether the license identifier is recorded in the memory; send, via the network interface, when the circuitry determines that the received license identifier is recorded in the memory, a license file corresponding to the license identifier to provide a permission to use the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group associated with the license identifier; generate an installation list, separate from the license file, of the one or more application programs of the purchased group when the circuitry determines that the received license identifier is recorded in the memory; send, via the network interface, the generated installation list for selecting one or more of the one or more application programs of the purchased group for installation; send, via the network interface, an application program acquisition instruction for acquiring the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group associated with the respective product identifiers; prohibit a deletion of the purchased group of the one or more application programs; prohibit a modification of a configuration of a group when at least one license associated with the group is in use, the group having the one or more application programs; receive via, the network interface, a license utilization request including an apparatus identifier uniquely assigned to an installation destination apparatus subject to installation of the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group, the license identifier associated with the at least the one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group, and the product identifier of the at least the one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group, and determine whether a license corresponding to the received license identifier and the received product identifier of the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group contained in the license utilization request is available based on whether information indicating that the license corresponding to the received license identifier and the received product identifier of the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group being in use is recorded in the memory; record, in the memory when the license corresponding to the received license identifier and the received product identifier of the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group is available, the information indicating that the license corresponding to the received license identifier and the received product identifier of the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group is in use in association with the received license identifier and the received product identifier of the at least one of the one or more application programs of the purchased group; determine whether the received license identifier is registered in a license management table; determine whether a first apparatus identifier identical to the received apparatus identifier is registered corresponding to the received license identifier in the license management table when the circuitry determines that the received license identifier is registered in the license management table; when the first apparatus identifier is not registered in the license management table, determine whether there is a record having a check-in status among records corresponding to the received license identifier and the received product identifier in the license management table; when the record having the check-in status is found in the license management table, record the received apparatus identifier in a target record and change the check-in status of the target record to a check-out status; when the first apparatus identifier is registered in the license management table, determine whether a found record having the first apparatus identifier has the check-in status; when the found record having the first apparatus identifier has the check-in status, record the received apparatus identifier in the target record and change the check-in status of the target record to the check-out status; and generate the license file corresponding to the at least one of the one or more application programs associated with the product identifier and the license identifier corresponding to the product identifier such that the at least one of the one or more application programs associated with the product identifier and the license identifier corresponding to the product identifier is used in the installation destination apparatus associated with the apparatus identifier.