Granted Patent B2

US 12,530,684 · App. 18/538,872 · Granted Jan 20, 2026

Inventor: George Shiping Hu (Lexington, MA)

G06Q20/401G06Q20/36G06Q20/389

Abstract

Claims (65)

1 . A method of creating a non-fungible token (NFT) that prevents changing of a digital file to which the NFT relates after the NFT is minted, comprising:

generating, by an NFT platform, NFT secondary file information relating to the digital file and the NFT, wherein the NFT secondary file information comprises a content ID of the digital file stored in a data storage, wherein the data storage is a permanent and immutable data storage;

generating, by the NFT platform, an NFT metadata file comprising the content ID of the digital file stored in the data storage;

storing, by the NFT platform, the NFT metadata file and the NFT secondary file information in the data storage;

generating a smart contract of the NFT comprising a link to a content ID of the NFT metadata file stored in the data storage;

deploying the smart contact, by the NFT platform, to a distributed ledger system;

receiving an indicated date or NFT TokenID number after which at least one of the NFT metadata file, the NFT secondary file information, or the digital file is to be changed;

generating, by the NFT platform, updated NFT secondary file information relating to the digital file or an updated digital file, wherein the updated NFT secondary file information comprises the content ID of the digital file or an updated content ID of an updated digital file;

generating, by the NFT platform, an updated NFT metadata file comprising the content ID of the digital file or the updated content ID of the updated digital file;

storing, by the NFT platform, the updated NFT metadata file and the updated NFT secondary file information in the data storage; and

causing the smart contract of the NFT to include a link to an updated content ID of the updated NFT metadata file.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , comprising:

storing the NFT secondary file information in an NFT secondary file information file that is a separate file from the NFT metadata file,

wherein the NFT metadata file comprises a content ID of the digital file and a content ID of the NFT secondary file information file.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , comprising:

storing the NFT secondary file information in the NFT metadata file.

4 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the NFT secondary file information also includes at least one of:

a description of the NFT;

a smart contract owner wallet address;

an NFT timestamp;

NFT terms; and/or

an NFT platform stamp or serial number.

5 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the permeant and immutable data storage is a public decentralized storage system.

6 . The method according to claim 5 ,

wherein the public decentralized storage system is an InterPlanetary File System (IPFS).

7 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the digital file is at least one of an image file, an audio file, a video file, a document file, an application, or a software key.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , comprising:

receiving, by the NFT platform, the digital file; and

storing, by the NFT platform, the digital file in the data storage.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , comprising:

receiving selections of template NFT terms; and

generating the NFT secondary file information based at least in part on the selections.

10 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the NFT secondary file information also includes an NFT platform stamp or serial number.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the digital file is a first digital file, the method comprising:

encrypting a content ID of a second digital file stored in the data storage to form an encrypted content ID, wherein the second digital file is related to the first digital file; and

generating the NFT metadata file comprising the encrypted content ID of the second digital file.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the first digital file is at least one of:

a lower resolution version of the second digital file;

an incomplete portion of the second digital file; and/or

an image corresponding to the second digital file when the second digital file is a video file or an audio file.

13 . The method according to claim 11 ,

wherein encrypting the content ID of the second digital file to form the encrypted content ID comprises encrypting the content ID of the second digital file using a cryptographic key of an issuer of the NFT and a cryptographic key of the NFT platform.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , comprising:

generating the NFT secondary file information comprising the encrypted content ID of the second digital file.

15 . The method according to claim 11 ,

wherein encrypting the content ID of the second digital file to form the encrypted content ID comprises encrypting the content ID of the second digital file using a cryptographic key of a streaming user of the second digital file and a cryptographic key of the NFT platform.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , comprising:

decrypting, by the NFT platform, the encrypted content ID of the second digital file stored in the data storage using the cryptographic key of the streaming user and the cryptographic key of the NFT platform;

retrieving, by the NFT platform, the second digital file from the data storage; and

streaming, by the NFT platform, the second digital file to the streaming user.

17 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the NFT represents a license to use a software application, and

wherein generating the smart contract comprises generating the smart contract comprising an NFT expiration time and instructions for the NFT to self-destruct upon reaching the expiration time.

18 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the NFT represents a ticket to an event, the method comprising:

generating a code corresponding to the NFT at a time of minting the NFT, the code representing an address of the smart contract and a token ID of the NFT.

19 . The method according to claim 18 , comprising:

presenting, by a first mobile device, the code and information corresponding to a wallet address of a present holder of the NFT;

scanning, by a second mobile device, the code presented by the first mobile device and the information corresponding to the wallet address of the present holder of the NFT; and

determining that the address of the smart contract, the token ID of the NFT and the information corresponding to the wallet address of the present holder of the NFT match data on the distributed ledger system.

20 . The method according to claim 18 , comprising:

encrypting the content ID of the digital file to form an encrypted content ID using a cryptographic key of the NFT platform.

Continuity (3)

References Cited (14)

Cited By (1)

US 12,743,185