The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 16, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 18, 1997
Charles R. Malandra, Jr., Monroe, CT (US);
Perry A. Pierce, Darien, CT (US);
Pitney Bowes Inc., Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
A postage metering system includes a host processor having a printer coupled thereto. A postal security device (PSD) is coupled to the host processor. The PSD includes first unique identification, first postal value storage and first digital signature generator. The host processor can request and obtain from the PSD first evidence of postage payment to be printed by the printer. The host processor can also request and obtain from a remote data center second evidence of postage payment to be printed by the printer. For each metering transaction to be printed by the printer, the host processor initiates the request for one of the first and second evidences of postage payment. In one embodiment the host processor is a general purpose computer.