Patent 7450873 was granted and assigned to Xerox on November, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
This is a method for permitting an employee (user) authority to use his employer's marking apparatus for personal reasons. The supplier (provider) of the marking apparatus for example, Xerox Corporation, makes arrangements with the employee (with employer's approval) to use the marking apparatus for an agreed upon price; the marking apparatus having provisions for recording the employee's usage and conveying this to the provider. The provider administers the entire process and pays the employer a portion of the amount remitted by the employee user.