Patent Application Titled “Systems And Methods For Using Telematics Data In Relation To A Blockchain” Published Online (USPTO 20240119533): Patent Application

2024 APR 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventors Amancha, Steve (Tempe, AZ, US); Doak-Wigginton, Kimberly (Congerville, IL, US); Dunstan, Stephen (Tempe, AZ, US); Kloeppel, Kimberly Christine (Mesa, AZ, US); LeFebre, EllaKate (Mesa, AZ, US); Wheeler, Ross (Scottsdale, AZ, US), filed on November 16, 2022, was made available online on April 11, 2024.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in the background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

“Properly generating and maintaining vehicle build sheets is difficult. Often, companies rely on the data stored on vehicle build sheets to conduct business, but it is not uncommon for information on vehicle build sheets to be missing (either due to recordation error, a lack of standard in the industry to record the same levels of information, or lost documents). As such, companies often must fill the missing data by contacting the vehicle manufacturer, the initial purchaser of the vehicle, or by inspecting the vehicle itself. Further, even if there is a properly generated vehicle build sheet, maintaining the vehicle build sheet to keep it up-to-date may be equally difficult.

“Additionally, it may be difficult to calculate and/or adjust insurance premiums tailored to individual drivers or home owners/residents. When calculating insurance premiums for prospective customers, insurance providers may not know the safety habits of the prospective customer unless they are monitored during a test period. Similarly, when adjusting insurance premiums of existing insurance customers, insurance providers may not have the data collected outside of claims filed by the customer and available public records. Conventional techniques may have additional inefficiencies, inaccuracies, hindrances, or drawbacks as well.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “In general, the present embodiments may relate to, inter alia, accurate and persistent recordation of vehicle build sheets, calculating and/or adjusting insurance premiums based upon the detected driving performance of existing and prospective insurance customers, and/or calculating and/or adjusting insurance premiums based upon telematics data of vehicles and/or homes. For instance, the disclosed embodiments generally relate to generating and/or maintaining a record on a blockchain based upon sensor data received from the sensors installed on, or within, the vehicle to initiate a calculation and/or adjustment of an insurance premium. For example, vehicle sensor data may be interpreted to be the “ground truth” of whether a safety feature is installed in a vehicle, and thus need not be necessarily verified with manual inspections of the vehicle.

“Advantageously, for example, an insurer of the vehicle may instantaneously determine that a safety feature is installed in the vehicle based upon the received vehicle sensor data in addition to determining when and/or where it was activated (e.g., a smart high beam system active on a highway at night). In this way, the insurer of the vehicle may calculate and/or adjust an insurance premium tailored to a particular operator and/or vehicle. For example, a discount may be provided for the installation of certain safety features and further discounts may be made based upon their enablement and use in certain situations. Thus, having an accurate and up-to-date vehicle record may allow an insurer to properly calculate an insurance premium of new customers.

“Similarly, for example, an insurer of a home may instantaneously determine that a parametric event occurred based upon the received home sensor data (e.g., an anti-theft sensor was triggered, or drainage sensors indicate flooding, etc.). In this way, the insurer of a home may be able to contact the property owner and/or resident, as well as contact other entities (e.g., police, home repair contractors, etc.) to address the parametric event.

“The asset records (such as vehicle records, home records, etc.) on the blockchain may also be employed to maintain data upon which insurance premiums for prospective and/or current customers of insurance providers are calculated. For example, vehicle sensor data associated with a vehicle record and/or indications derived therefrom may provide historical vehicle usage data upon which an insurance premium may be derived and/or adjusted. In addition to the sensor data, the asset record may include public records associated with the vehicle and/or home, insurance records, as well as any other records associated with the vehicle and/or home. As such, the asset record may act as a repository for the underlying data that insurance providers need to tailor insurance premium estimates to individual drivers and/or home owners/residents.

“To employ a proactive approach, a blockchain-based solution is described herein. A large dataset of telematics data from numerous vehicles and/or homes may be analyzed to determine one or more triggering events. As an example, analysis of the large dataset of vehicle sensor data from a vehicle may indicate that a safety feature is installed in the vehicle. As another example, analysis of vehicle sensor data may indicate that a safety feature was active during a specific location (e.g., adaptive cruise control was active while the vehicle was on a highway). As another example, analysis of the large dataset of vehicle sensor data from numerous vehicles may indicate that a broken window of vehicles correlates to a parametric event of theft of item(s) in vehicles. As another example, analysis of vehicle sensor data may indicate that isolated damage of vehicles (e.g., the front but not the back) correlates to a parametric event of a relatively small collision (e.g., the vehicles drove into trees, mailboxes, etc.), whereas extensive damage of vehicles (e.g., body of vehicles severely damaged) correlates to a parametric event of a relatively large collision (e.g., the vehicles suffered total loss beyond repair). As another example, analysis of the large dataset of home sensor data may indicate that a basement is flooding and/or detect the presence of an electrical fault that may increase the likelihood of a fire occurring.

“For each triggering event determined from the large dataset of telematics data, a corresponding smart contract may be generated for deployment onto a shared leger (i.e., the blockchain), to define action(s) when the triggering event actually occurs. For example, the actions may include generating and/or maintaining a vehicle build sheet, initiating processes for calculating and/or adjusting one or more insurance premiums, initiating processes for claiming a notice of loss, initiating processes for servicing the vehicle, and/or causing one or more entities to exchange information about the vehicle and/or home.

“The blockchain may manage an asset record according to the generated smart contracts. Data related to the asset record (i.e., vehicle sensor data and/or home sensor data) and in some cases, any supplemental information (e.g., weather data, image data, etc.) may be included in transactions and/or events included in the blockchain. For example, the data may be written to the blockchain by sensors installed on or within the vehicle and/or home, personal electronic devices associated with the vehicle and/or home, smart controllers associated with the vehicle and/or home, and/or supplemental sources. The deployed smart contracts may detect the transactions and/or events recorded to the blockchain and self-execute to generate an asset record update an asset record, calculate and/or adjust an insurance premium, initiate a claim for a loss associated with the vehicle and/or home, and/or provide assistance to an individual associated with the asset.

“Advantages will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments, which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments, and their details may be capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

“The figures depict the present embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternate embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method for calculating an insurance premium using a blockchain, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, telematics data associated with an insured asset; analyzing, by the one or more processors, the telematics data to detect a characteristic associated with the insured asset; identifying, by the one or more processors, a record on the blockchain related to the insured asset, wherein the record includes an indication of smart contract deployed on the blockchain and associated with the characteristic of the insured asset; recording, to the smart contract, an indication of the detected characteristic associated with the insured asset; and adjusting, as directed of the smart contract, an insurance premium associated with the insured asset, wherein the smart contract is configured to calculate the insurance premium based upon the detected characteristic associated with the insured asset.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the insured asset is a vehicle; and the telematics data includes vehicle telematics data associated with the vehicle.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein: the characteristic associated with the insured asset is a metric indicative of operation of the vehicle; and: analyzing the telematics data comprises: analyzing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle telematics data to determine the metric indicative of operation of the vehicle, wherein the metric indicative of operation of the vehicle is based upon at least one of an acceleration metric, a braking metric, a cornering metric, a responsibility metric, and/or a vehicle safety feature effectiveness metric.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein receiving the vehicle telematics data comprises: receiving, by the one or more processors, the vehicle telematics data from at least one of a mobile device associated with the vehicle or a vehicle control system of the vehicle.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the insured asset is a home; and the telematics data includes home telematics data associated with the home.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein: the characteristic associated with the insured asset is a metric indicative of operation of the home; and: analyzing the telematics data comprises: analyzing, by the one or more processors, the home telematics data to determine the metric indicative of operation of the home, wherein the metric indicative of operation of the home is based upon at least one of an electricity usage metric, a water usage metric, a security metric, and/or a loss prevention metric.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein receiving the home telematics data comprises: receiving, by the one or more processors, the home telematics data from at least one of a mobile device associated with the home, a smart device disposed at the home, and/or a home controller disposed at the home.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the smart contract deployed to the blockchain is configured to self-execute to perform an action in response to detecting a triggering event, the triggering event is at least one of (i) a lapsing of a predetermined amount of time, and/or (ii) the indication of the detected characteristic being recorded to the smart contract, the action to be performed includes initiating an insurance premium adjustment for an insurance product associated with the insured asset, wherein the insurance premium adjustment is based upon a set of indications recorded to the smart contract, and the method further comprises: performing, via the one or more processors, the action as directed by the smart contract.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: storing, by the one or more processors, the telematics data at a database; and updating, by the one or more processors, the record on the blockchain to include at least one of (i) an indication of a location at the database at which the telematics data may be accessed and/or (ii) a hash of the stored telematics data.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the telematics data includes at least one of throttle data, braking data, steering data, cornering data, acceleration data, speed data, direction data, heading data, safety feature data, home occupancy data, water usage data, electricity usage data, location data, date data, and/or time data.

“11. A computer system for calculating an insurance premium using a blockchain, comprising: one or more processors; a non-transitory program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: receive telematics data associated with an insured asset; analyze the telematics data to detect a characteristic associated with the insured asset; identify a record on the blockchain related to the insured asset, wherein the record includes an indication of smart contract deployed on the blockchain and associated with the characteristic of the insured asset; record, to the smart contract, an indication of the detected characteristic associated with the insured asset; and adjust, as directed of the smart contract, an insurance premium associated with the insured asset, wherein the smart contract is configured to calculate the insurance premium based upon the detected characteristic associated with the insured asset.

“12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein: the insured asset is a vehicle; and the telematics data includes vehicle telematics data associated with the vehicle.

“13. The computer system of claim 12, wherein: the characteristic associated with the insured asset is a metric indicative of operation of the vehicle; and analyzing the telematics data comprises: analyze the vehicle telematics data to determine the metric indicative of operation of the vehicle, wherein the metric indicative of operation of the vehicle is based upon at least one of an acceleration metric, a braking metric, a cornering metric, a responsibility metric, and/or a vehicle safety feature effectiveness metric.

“14. The computer system of claim 12, wherein receiving the vehicle telematics data comprises: receive the vehicle telematics data from at least one of a mobile device associated with the vehicle or a vehicle control system of the vehicle.

“15. The computer system of claim 11, wherein: the insured asset is a home; and the telematics data includes home telematics data associated with the home.

“16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein: the characteristic associated with the insured asset is a metric indicative of operation of the home; and: analyzing the telematics data comprises: analyze the home telematics data to determine the metric indicative of operation of the home, wherein the metric indicative of operation of the home is based upon at least one of an electricity usage metric, a water usage metric, a security metric, and/or a loss prevention metric.

“17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein receiving the home telematics data comprises: receive the home telematics data from at least one of a mobile device associated with the home, a smart device disposed at the home, and/or a home controller disposed at the home.

“18. The computer system of claim 11, wherein: the smart contract deployed to the blockchain is configured to self-execute to perform an action in response to detecting a triggering event, the triggering event is at least one of (i) a lapsing of a predetermined amount of time, and/or (ii) the indication of the detected characteristic being recorded to the smart contract, the action to be performed includes initiating an insurance premium adjustment for an insurance product associated with the insured asset, wherein the insurance premium adjustment is based upon a set of indications recorded to the smart contract, and the executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: perform the action as directed by the smart contract.

“19. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: store the telematics data at a database; and update the record on the blockchain to include at least one of (i) an indication of a location at the database at which the telematics data may be accessed and/or (ii) a hash of the stored telematics data.

“20. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions for generating a plurality of one or more smart contracts for deployment onto a blockchain, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to: receive telematics data associated with an insured asset; analyze the telematics data to detect a characteristic associated with the insured asset; identify a record on the blockchain related to the insured asset, wherein the record includes an indication of smart contract deployed on the blockchain and associated with the characteristic of the insured asset; record, to the smart contract, an indication of the detected characteristic associated with the insured asset; and adjust, as directed of the smart contract, an insurance premium associated with the insured asset, wherein the smart contract is configured to calculate the insurance premium based upon the detected characteristic associated with the insured asset.”

For more information, see this patent application: Amancha, Steve; Doak-Wigginton, Kimberly; Dunstan, Stephen; Kloeppel, Kimberly Christine; LeFebre, EllaKate; Wheeler, Ross. Systems And Methods For Using Telematics Data In Relation To A Blockchain. U.S. Patent Application Number 20240119533, filed November 16, 2022 and posted April 11, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20240119533)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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