How Online Systems Verify Your Identity Using External Data
A system for verifying user identity and payment details in an online environment by pulling data from external sources and generating virtual payment tokens.
Original patent title: “Systems and methods for verifying attributes of users of online systems”
A system for verifying user identity and payment details in an online environment by pulling data from external sources and generating virtual payment tokens. Granted to Mbr Innovations LLC in 2019 with 28 claims and 1 forward citation.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
The patent describes a process for verifying user attributes, such as credit card details, within an online environment. When a user registers, they provide encrypted attribute data (like a name and credit card number) from their computer to a central server. The server then forwards this encrypted data to an external verification source, which confirms the information automatically without human intervention. Once verified, the server sends a 'virtual payment' token back to the user's device, which the user can then transmit to a merchant via a wireless signal to complete a transaction.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover verification methods that require human intervention or manual review.
- Does not cover systems where the verification source is the user themselves or the user's own computer.
- Does not cover non-encrypted transmission of credit card or name attribute values.
- Does not cover transactions that do not involve the generation of virtual payment information.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The system offloads the trust burden by using external sources to verify data in an automated, encrypted loop, then replaces sensitive raw data with a 'virtual payment' token before the merchant ever sees it.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Digital wallet services like Apple Pay or Google Pay
Third-party identity verification services for e-commerce
Tokenized payment gateways used in mobile apps
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This patent addresses the challenge of securely verifying user credentials in digital marketplaces without exposing raw financial data to merchants. By acting as a middleman that validates data against external sources and issues tokens, it aims to reduce fraud and improve privacy in online transactions.
Filed
May 23, 2018
Granted
February 19, 2019
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Major payment processors and digital wallet providers like Apple, Google, and Stripe are actively developing systems that use tokenization and external verification to secure transactions. Mbr Innovations LLC holds this specific patent, but the broader industry is moving toward these automated, zero-knowledge verification patterns.
Market impact
This patent reflects the industry-wide shift toward tokenization, where sensitive data is replaced by non-sensitive equivalents to prevent data breaches. It contributes to the standard practice of using intermediary servers to validate identity before allowing a merchant to process a payment.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
The patent describes a process for verifying user attributes, such as credit card details, within an online environment. When a user registers, they provide encrypted attribute data (like a name and credit card number) from their computer to a central server. The server then forwards this encrypted data to an external verification source, which confirms the information automatically without human intervention. Once verified, the server sends a 'virtual payment' token back to the user's device, which the user can then transmit to a merchant via a wireless signal to complete a transaction.
The clever bit
The system offloads the trust burden by using external sources to verify data in an automated, encrypted loop, then replaces sensitive raw data with a 'virtual payment' token before the merchant ever sees it.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover verification methods that require human intervention or manual review.
- Does not cover systems where the verification source is the user themselves or the user's own computer.
- Does not cover non-encrypted transmission of credit card or name attribute values.
- Does not cover transactions that do not involve the generation of virtual payment information.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
6/40
Early citations
Claim breadth
19/20
Very broad protection
Recency
10/20
Granted 5–10 years ago
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$78K – $250K
Midpoint $156K · 11.9 yr remaining · industry ×1.6
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
28 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Rappaport, M. B. (2019). How Online Systems Verify Your Identity Using External Data (U.S. Patent No. 10,212,148). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10212148/touch-id
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Online Systems Verify Your Identity Using External Data cover?
A system for verifying user identity and payment details in an online environment by pulling data from external sources and generating virtual payment tokens.
Who owns patent US 10212148?
Mbr Innovations LLC owns this patent, granted in 2019.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on February 19, 2039, when the invention enters the public domain.
What is patent US 10212148 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 1 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
This patent addresses the challenge of securely verifying user credentials in digital marketplaces without exposing raw financial data to merchants. By acting as a middleman that validates data against external sources and issues tokens, it aims to reduce fraud and improve privacy in online transactions.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover verification methods that require human intervention or manual review.
Patent monitoring