{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8516090","patent":{"patent_number":"US-8516090","title":"Method and apparatus for distributing licenses","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2009-07-01T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2013-08-20T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["G06F"],"num_claims":15,"abstract":"A method and apparatus are provided for distributing or redistributing licenses from a failed or unavailable license controller to one or more backup license controllers. Each controller has an initial count of licenses it can serve or allocate to clients desiring access to licensed electronic content. Each controller maintains a set of data that identifies the initial license counts and that also identifies backup relationships between controllers. Each such relationship for a given controller identifies which controllers will inherit licenses if the given controller becomes unavailable, and how many (e.g., a percentage) of the given controller's license that will be inherited. A redistribution plan for a given controller may have multiple levels, wherein a subsequent level may be applied only if all controllers designated as backups in the preceding level are also unavailable."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Method and apparatus for distributing licenses","description":"A method and apparatus are provided for distributing or redistributing licenses from a failed or unavailable license controller to one or more backup license controllers. Each controller has an initia","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8516090","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8516090","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Method and apparatus for distributing licenses\" (US-8516090). https://patentable.app/patents/US-8516090","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8516090","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-8516090","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-05-30T20:59:44.561Z"}