US Patent 7698230 Transaction architecture utilizing transaction policy statements

A transaction receiver obtains a transaction packet comprising at least one document and instructions for processing the at least one document to complete a transaction. Thereafter, a rule parser accesses a transaction policy statement associated with the transaction packet including one or more rules for allowing the at least one document to be electronically signed. A verification agent then determines whether the rules of the transaction policy statement are met, after which a signature inhibitor prevents the at least one document from being electronically signed unless each rule of the transaction policy statement is met.