Patent Issued for Graphical event-based password system (USPTO 11151238): United Services Automobile Association

2021 NOV 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Meyer, Gregory Brian (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on July 2, 2020, was published online on October 19, 2021.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11151238 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Password systems have been used with computer based machines for many years. A typical password may be, for example, a four-digit number, for example ‘1234’. In such a case if one wants to start using a particular computer program or for the computer based machine to perform a certain action, the machine asks a password, and if in this case, the number ‘1234’ is entered (usually via a keyboard or keypad, but equivalent ways may be via speaking a word into a language recognition system, etc), then the particular computer program or action starts. If the wrong password, for example in this case, ‘1234’, was entered, then the particular program or particular action would not occur, and the user may (or may not) receive an error message from the computer.

“Many password systems exist. While a four-digit number is a popular system, used at automatic bank machines, for example, many other password systems use longer numbers or also allow a wider variety of alphanumeric characters. More possibilities in a password, do allow better security since more incorrect choices must be attempted to arrive at the password by such attempts. However, the problem with all such types of password systems, is that the user is expected to memorize his/her password. A four-digit password is work enough to memorize, a longer password is even more difficult. As well, a user may have many such passwords to memorize as required by many different computer programs or computer-based machines he/she normally uses. What typically happens in such cases is that persons write their passwords down on pieces of paper they keep on their desks or in their pockets, and security is badly compromised. Or to avoid needing to write their passwords down, persons may choose easy to remember passwords such as their pet’s name or the last four digits of their telephone number, etc. Again, security is again compromised, since this information is usually readily available to others who may want to try this information as a possible password choice for that individual. (Another reason why security is compromised in such cases is because it is often possible to program another computer system to try all the four-digit numbers or all the words in a dictionary, etc, in order to inappropriately enter a password protected system.) As daily life in a technological society involves use or more and more computer-based machinery, and the consequences of using such computer-based machinery becomes more important, the issue of memorizing passwords or using simple words as passwords, becomes more and more serious.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The purpose and advantages of the below described illustrated embodiments will be set forth in and apparent from the description that follows. Additional advantages of the illustrated embodiments will be realized and attained by the devices, systems and methods particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as from the appended drawings.

“To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the illustrated embodiments, in one aspect, A computer system and method having a user interface including a touch-sensitive display screen is described in which provides for entry of a password which includes displaying a first array of a plurality of images on the touch-sensitive display prompting a user to select with a finger one of the plurality of images displayed. Subsequently at least another array of a plurality of images successive to the first array is displayed on the touch sensitive display prompting a user to select with a finger one of the plurality of images displayed in the another array of images. A computer processor then determines if a user selected a predetermined image from the first array of the plurality of images and a predetermined image from each at least another array of plurality of images displayed after the first array. If determined, the user is permitted access to an application executable on the computer system.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. In a computer system having a user interface including a touch-sensitive display screen, a method for providing entry of a graphical-event based password, the method comprising: displaying a first array of a plurality of images on the touch-sensitive display prompting a user to select with a finger one of the plurality of images displayed; displaying at least another array of a plurality of images successive to the first array on the touch sensitive display if it is determined the user selected a predetermined image from an immediately prior predecessor array of a plurality of images displayed on the touch sensitive display prompting the user to select with a finger one of the plurality of images displayed in the another array of images; determining by a processor if the user selected a predetermined image from the first array of the plurality of images with a first predetermined finger and a second predetermined image from at least another array of plurality of images displayed after the first array with a second predetermined finger, wherein the first predetermined finger is different than the second predetermined finger, wherein biometric recognition is used during the user’s interaction to select the images with the touch-sensitive display to capture fingerprint images of the user’s first and second fingers; and permitting user access to an application executable on the computer system upon determining that the user successfully selected the predetermined image from the first array of the plurality of images with the first predetermined finger and the subsequent predetermined image from at least another array of plurality of images with the second predetermined finger.

“2. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least another array of a plurality of images successive to the first array includes a second and third array of a plurality of images.

“3. The computer method as recited in claim 2, wherein the third array is associated with a third predetermined finger different than each of the predetermined first and second fingers.

“4. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein each image in each array of a plurality of images corresponds to a graphic image.

“5. The computer method as recited in claim 4, wherein each image in each array of a plurality of images corresponds to a certain color.

“6. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein the predetermined image is a same image in the first and at least another array of a plurality of images.

“7. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein the predetermined image is a different image in the first and at least another array of a plurality of images.

“8. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer system is embodied in a smart phone device.

“9. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer system is embodied in a portable computing device.

“10. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer system is embodied in a kiosk computing device.

“11. The computer method as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer system is embodied in a banking institution Automated Teller Device (ATM).”

For additional information on this patent, see: Meyer, Gregory Brian. Graphical event-based password system. U.S. Patent Number 11151238, filed July 2, 2020, and published online on October 19, 2021. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11151238.PN.&OS=PN/11151238RS=PN/11151238

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