“Computer System For Selective Data Updating Across Multiple Remote Servers” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20200258177)

2020 SEP 02 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Molinsky, Bradley D. (Bloomfield, CT); Reich, Karen L. (Hartford, CT); Wilson, Nathaniel J. (Windsor, CT), filed on April 27, 2020, was made available online on August 13, 2020, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application is assigned to Hartford Fire Insurance Company (Hartford, Connecticut, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Decisions regarding an individual’s eventual death are known as advance life planning. Various tools are available to assist individuals in making these decisions, such as kits to assist in will preparation, or services to assist planning for a funeral. However, since most individuals do not plan ahead for their own funerals, family members of a deceased individual typically bear the burden of meeting funeral expenses until life insurance proceeds are distributed. Loans may be available to cover funeral expenses, but obtaining a loan requires burdensome effort at an already difficult time.

“Also, the death care industry is highly fragmented, and consumers are faced with myriads of choices. Often, family members make these choices while suffering the emotional strain caused by the death of a loved one. Perhaps for the first time, the family members of a deceased individual learn about estate planning and/or insurance to assist with death expenses. Unfortunately, these services are not available after death.

“Therefore, there is a need for a simplified integrated approach to advance life planning and management, including better management of funeral costs.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Accordingly, the present invention provides an integrated advance life planning and management system by which a user can obtain estate planning, will preparation, and funeral planning services through a single convenient interface.

“In one aspect of the present invention, an integrated advance life planning and management system communicates with a user terminal via the Internet. The system includes means for communicating with the user terminal, a processor, and a data storage device. The data storage device is configured to store at least one of a program for execution by the processor and a database having user data fields associated with a user profile. Execution of the program configures the processor to provide to the user terminal, via the means for communicating and the Internet, a plurality of advance life planning and management services. Execution of the program also configures the processor to receive from the user terminal data related to the services provided via the Internet. The processor is also configured by execution of the program to generate a table identifying common fields of the user profile that are used by more than one of the plurality of services, and to modify at least one of the common fields in response to the received data.

“In another aspect of the present invention, an integrated advance life planning and management system communicates with a user terminal and with a data storage device. The data storage device stores a database having user data fields associated with a user profile. The system includes a processor and means for communicating with the user terminal and the data storage device. The processor is configured to provide to the user terminal a plurality of advance life planning and management services. The processor also is configured to generate a table identifying common fields of the user profile that are used by more than one of the plurality of services, to receive data from the user terminal in response to at least one of the plurality of services, and to modify at least one of the common fields of the user profile in response to the data received from the user terminal.

“In another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product includes a computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for configuring a processor to perform a method for providing a plurality of advance life planning and management services. The method includes the steps of communicating with a user terminal and with a database storing data fields of a user profile; providing to the user terminal at least one of a plurality of advance life planning and management services; generating a table to identify common fields of the user profile that are used by more than one of the plurality of services; receiving data from the user terminal in response to at least one of the plurality of services; and modifying at least one of the common fields in response to the data received from the user terminal.

“In another aspect of the present invention, a method for providing at least one of a plurality of advance life planning and management services includes the steps of: providing a processor and a database storing data fields of a user profile; placing the processor in communication with the database and with the user terminal; configuring the processor to perform a method comprising the steps of communicating with the user terminal and with the database, providing to the user terminal at least one of a plurality of advance life planning and management services, generating a table identifying common fields of the user profile that are used by more than one of the plurality of services, receiving data from the user terminal in response to at least one of the plurality of services, and modifying at least one of the common fields in response to the data received from the user terminal; and providing a means for electronic access to the system.

“These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in light of the detailed description of the best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer system, the system in communication with a user terminal, the system comprising: a computer processor; a computer-readable medium having a program comprising processor-executable instructions; and a data storage device storing a database comprising a plurality of user profiles, each of the user profiles comprising user data fields; the computer system being in communication with a plurality of remote servers, each of the remote servers having an associated service; wherein the computer processor executes the program to: render a common graphical user interface on a user terminal for accessing each of the associated services and receiving user data; map common fields between the user profiles and one or more of the associated services; responsive to entry of one of the associated services by a user, determine whether user data fields common to the user profile of the user and the entered one of the associated services are synchronized with one another; responsive to determining that one or more of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services is not synchronized with the common user data fields of the user profile, synchronize the one or more common user data fields within the entered one of the services with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database; responsive to exiting by the user of the entered one of the services, determine whether any of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services have been changed; responsive to determining that one or more of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services have been changed, prompt the user to replace the data in the common user data field in the user profile with the changed data from the entered one of the services; and responsive to receiving user agreement to change the common user data field in response to the prompting of the user, synchronize the corresponding common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database that have been changed in the entered one of the services with the data in the common user data fields, and, absent user agreement in response to the prompting of the user, maintain the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database without change.

“2. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising an employee database associated with a group benefits plan.

“3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the processor further executes the program to: automatically populate at least a portion of the user data fields of the user profiles from records stored in the employee database.

“4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor further executes the program to: map common fields between the user profile and one or more of the associated services by automated comparison of field values and data labels; and based on the mapping, generate a table dynamically linking each common field of the user profile to a corresponding field in each of the associated services; wherein the processor uses the table to determine whether user data fields common to the user profile of the user and the entered one of the associated services are synchronized with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database.

“5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein one of the associated services is an estate planning service, and wherein the processor further executes the program to: receive account access information for a plurality of user financial resources and store the received account access information in data fields of the user profile; automatically, responsive to user access to the system, use the stored account access information to access financial information of the user, and store the accessed financial information in data fields of the user profile; calculate the assets, liabilities and net worth of the user based on the accessed financial information, and store the calculated assets, liabilities and net worth in the user profile; and responsive to entry of the estate planning service by the user, synchronize the asset data, liability data and net worth data of the fields of the estate planning service with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database.

“6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor further executes the program to: receive data relating to the user based on fields of the user profile, the received data tagged with a source identifier; compare the source identifier to a database of approved sources; responsive to matching the source identifier with an approved source in the database of approved sources, automatically confirm the received data, and responsive to the confirmed data indicating a user event, access one of the associated services corresponding to the confirmed data; and responsive to the user event being the death of the user, initiate one or more of a funeral process, a probate process, a life insurance claim and notification of listed people.

“7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the remote servers comprise an estate planning server providing an estate planning service, a will preparation server providing a will preparation service, and a funeral planning server providing a funeral planning service.

“8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: communicate with a user terminal and a plurality of remote servers, each of the remote servers providing an associated service; render a common graphical user interface on the user terminal for accessing the associated services and for receiving user data; communicate with a database comprising a plurality of user profiles, each of the profiles comprising user data fields, wherein the associated services use some user data fields in common with the user profile stored in the database; map common fields between the user profile and one or more of the associated services; responsive to entry of one of the associated services by a user, determine whether user data fields common to the user profile of the user and the entered one of the associated services are synchronized with one another; responsive to determining that one or more of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services is not synchronized with the common user data fields of the user profile, synchronize the one or more common user data fields within the entered one of the services with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database; responsive to exiting by the user of the entered one of the services, determine whether any of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services have been changed; responsive to determining that one or more of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services have been changed, prompt the user to replace the data in the common user data field in the user profile with the changed data from the entered one of the services; and responsive to receiving user agreement to change the common user data field in response to the prompting of the user, synchronize the corresponding common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database that have been changed in the entered one of the services with the data in the common user data fields, and, absent user agreement in response to the prompting of the user, maintain the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database without change.

“9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: automatically populate at least a portion of the user data fields of the user profiles from records stored in an employee database associated with a group benefits plan.

“10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: map common fields between the user profile and one or more of the associated services by automated comparison of field values and data labels; and based on the mapping, generate a table dynamically linking each common field of the user profile to a corresponding field in each of the associated services; wherein the instructions cause the processor to use the table to determine whether user data fields common to the user profile of the user and the entered one of the associated services are synchronized with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database.

“11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein one of the associated services is an estate planning service, and wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: receive account access information for a plurality of user financial resources and store the received account access information in data fields of the user profile; automatically, responsive to user access to the system, use the stored account access information to access financial information of the user, and store the accessed financial information in data fields of the user profile; calculate the assets, liabilities and net worth of the user based on the accessed financial information, and store the calculated assets, liabilities and net worth in the user profile; and responsive to entry of the estate planning service by the user, synchronize the asset data, liability data and net worth data of the fields of the estate planning service with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database.

“12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: receive data relating to the user based on fields of the user profile, the received data tagged with a source identifier; compare the source identifier to a database of approved sources; responsive to matching the source identifier with an approved source in the database of approved sources, automatically confirm the received data, and responsive to the confirmed data indicating a user event, access one of the associated services corresponding to the confirmed data; and responsive to the user event being the death of the user, initiate one or more of a funeral process, a probate process, a life insurance claim and notification of listed people.

“13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the remote servers comprise an estate planning server providing an estate planning service, a will preparation server providing a will preparation service, and a funeral planning server providing a funeral planning service.

“14. A computer-implemented method, comprising: communicating, by a processor of a computer system, with a user terminal and a plurality of remote servers, each of the remote servers providing an associated service; rendering a common graphical user interface on the user terminal for accessing the associated services and for receiving user data; communicating, by the processor, with a database comprising a plurality of user profiles, each of the profiles comprising user data fields, wherein the associated services use some user data fields in common with the user profile stored in the database; mapping, by the processor, common fields between the user profile and one or more of the associated services; responsive to entry of one of the associated services by a user, determining, by the processor, whether user data fields common to the user profile of the user and the entered one of the associated services are synchronized with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database; responsive to determining that one or more of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services is not synchronized with the common user data fields of the user profile, synchronizing, by the processor, the one or more common user data fields within the entered one of the services with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database; responsive to exiting by the user of the entered one of the services, determining, by the processor, whether any of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services have been changed; responsive to determining that one or more of the common user data fields within the entered one of the services have been changed, prompting, by the processor, the user to replace the data in the common user data field in the user profile with the changed data from the entered one of the services; and responsive to receiving user agreement to change the common user data field in response to the prompting of the user, synchronizing, by the processor, the corresponding common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database that have been changed in the entered one of the services with the data in the common user data fields, and, absent user agreement in response to the prompting of the user, maintaining the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database without change.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising: automatically populating, by the processor, at least a portion of the user data fields of the user profiles from records stored in an employee database associated with a group benefits plan.

“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising: mapping, by the processor, common fields between the user profile and one or more of the associated services by automated comparison of field values and data labels; and based on the mapping, generating, by the processor, a table dynamically linking each common field of the user profile to a corresponding field in each of the associated services; wherein the processor uses the table to determine whether user data fields common to the user profile of the user and the entered one of the associated services are synchronized with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database.

“17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein one of the associated services is an estate planning service, and further comprising: receiving, by the processor, account access information for a plurality of user financial resources, and storing the received account access information in data fields of the user profile; automatically, responsive to user access to the system, using, by the processor, the stored account access information to access financial information of the user, and storing the accessed financial information in data fields of the user profile; calculating, by the processor, the assets, liabilities and net worth of the user based on the accessed financial information, and storing the calculated assets, liabilities and net worth in the user profile; and responsive to entry of the estate planning service by the user, synchronizing, by the processor, the asset data, liability data and net worth data of the fields of the estate planning service with the common user data fields of the user profile stored in the database.

“18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, by the processor, data relating to the user based on fields of the user profile, the received data tagged with a source identifier; comparing, by the processor, the source identifier to a database of approved sources; responsive to matching the source identifier with an approved source in the database of approved sources, automatically confirming, by the processor, the received data, and responsive to the confirmed data indicating a user event, accessing, by the processor, one of the associated services corresponding to the confirmed data; and responsive to the user event being the death of the user, initiating one or more of a funeral process, a probate process, a life insurance claim and notification of listed people.

“19. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the remote servers comprise an estate planning server providing an estate planning service, a will preparation server providing a will preparation service, and a funeral planning server providing a funeral planning service.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Molinsky, Bradley D.; Reich, Karen L.; Wilson, Nathaniel J. Computer System For Selective Data Updating Across Multiple Remote Servers. Filed April 27, 2020 and posted August 13, 2020. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220200258177%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20200258177&RS=DN/20200258177

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