Patent ID: 8601540

Claim:
A computer implemented method of managing software licenses comprising the steps of: storing by an authentication and license checking module a plurality of software licenses and assigning the plurality of software licenses to a plurality of login user identifiers; requesting by an application server a login user identifier in response to receiving a request by a user to access a software resource on the application server; receiving by the application server the login user identifier; identifying by the application server at least one software license required to entitle access to the software resource; simultaneously providing the identified at least one software license and the received login user identifier to the authentication and license checking module; comparing by the authentication and license checking module the received login user identifier to stored login users identifiers to authenticate the user; comparing by the authentication and license checking module the identified at least one software license to the previously assigned and stored software licenses, each stored software license being previously assigned to one or more login user identifiers of the stored login user identifiers prior to comparing by the authentication and license checking module the identified at least one software license; and granting by the application server access to the software resource in response to retrieving within the stored software licenses the identified at least one software license previously assigned to the received login user identifier; wherein the method is performed on at least one computer processor.