Patent ID: 7477745
Filing Date: 2009-01-13
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A license management apparatus, comprising: a storing portion to store a number of currently available licenses corresponding to each of a plurality of operation functions which may be performed on a plurality of operating function executing units, wherein a discriminator to determine, upon a request to use one of the operation functions, whether the number of licenses currently permitted for the use of the requested operation function has reached a predetermined number based on contents of said storing portion, wherein when the requested operation function is an application function, the discriminator determines whether use of a corresponding operation function is permitted, wherein the corresponding operation function is a basic function, and only upon determining that the use of the basic function is permitted, the discriminator determines whether use of the application function is permitted; and a permission determination unit to determine whether the request for the use of the operation function is to be permitted based on a result of said discriminator.