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:
May. 13, 2008
Filed:
Oct. 15, 2001
Cynthia M Merkin, Georgetown, TX (US);
Steven Stubbs, Austin, TX (US);
Cynthia M Merkin, Georgetown, TX (US);
Steven Stubbs, Austin, TX (US);
Dell Products L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Abstract
A computer system warranty upgrade method and apparatus are provided. When a warranty upgrade is desired, the computer requesting a warranty upgrade sends its configuration information to a remote warranty server computer. The warranty server prepares a warranty price quote specific to the particular configuration of the requesting computer. When the price quote is paid, the warranty server encrypts and transmits a warranty authorization to the requesting computer. The warranty authorization includes warranty type, duration, the specific configuration warranted and an identification number unique to the requesting computer. These data are authenticated and validated by a secure processor in the requesting computer. After validation, the validated data is stored in secure storage by the secure processor.