Patent ID: 7073710

Claim:
A method of purchasing value units required for utilizing a paid function of a software program residing on a first computer, the method comprising: executing the software program on the first computer; establishing connection between the first computer and a second computer; the first computer initiating an order with the second computer for a quantity of value units to be purchased; the software program executed on the first computer receiving a serial number from the second computer; the software program storing the received serial number in a first location of a memory of the first computer; transmitting a refill file from the second computer to a second location of the memory of the first computer, the refill file indicating the quantity of value units purchased and a confirmation number corresponding to the serial number; loading the refill file from the second location of the memory of the first computer into the software program; comparing the confirmation number of the refill file with the serial number; and if the confirmation number of the refill file matches the serial number, adding the quantity of value units purchased to a previous total of value units and permanently deleting the serial number from the first location of the memory of the first computer.