Patent ID: 7589850

Claim:
A licensing method associated with an imaging device that uses an imaging media in forming printed images on print media, said imaging media including an initial supply amount of an imaging substance, wherein a usage license is associated with at least on of said imaging device and said imaging media, said usage license defining a first usage threshold at which a consumer is prompted to acquire a new license; and a license monitoring mechanism communicatively coupled with said imaging device, said license monitoring mechanism performing the acts of: tracking an amount of usage of an imaging media by an imaging device; determining whether said amount of usage of said imaging media by said imaging device has reached a first usage threshold; and upon reaching said first usage threshold, then prompting said consumer to acquire a new license from a licensing vendor, wherein said prompting act further comprising determining whether said consumer wants to acquire said new license, and if said consumer wants to acquire said new license, then said license monitoring mechanism performing the act of establishing communications with said licensing vendor for acquiring said new license from said licensing vendor.