Patent Issued for Blockchain systems and methods for managing property loan information (USPTO 11810189): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2023 NOV 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Awasthy, Lokesh (Santa Clara, CA, US), filed on November 14, 2022, was published online on November 7, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11810189 is assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “When obtaining and/or refinancing a loan for a personal property asset (e.g., a vehicle, a property or building, etc.), a user or customer may be required to provide information about any existing liens on the personal property asset. In order to decide whether to offer a new loan on the personal property asset, the loan-providing entity may use customer-provided data (e.g., customer data, data about the personal property asset) to determine and/or confirm information about the existing loan. In at least some known systems, the process to retrieve information about the existing loan is a manual process, performed by a human analyst tasked with reaching out to the provider of the existing loan (e.g., over the phone). Generally, loan providers have teams of analysts to perform this process, which is prone to error, inefficient, time-consuming, and (in terms of required personnel) expensive. In at least some cases, a customer may have to wait days to weeks for a response indicating whether they will be offered a new loan.

“In addition, even if a new loan is offered and the customer accepts the terms of the new loan, a transfer of funds between the loan-providing entities (e.g., a payoff of the existing loan) and a subsequent transfer of title and/or lien is executed and performed manually, which further extends the time it takes to complete the provision of the new loan. Accordingly, the current systems and methods for managing property loan information may be undesirable for customers as well as loan-providing entities.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may relate to blockchain-based systems and methods for managing property loan information, such as for vehicle loans, home loans, and/or any other loan or lien associated with a personal property asset. A Loan Management (LM) computer system may include an access computer device and at least one blockchain node computing device of a blockchain network. The access computer device may be associated with a loan provider and/or a loan applicant (“user”). The blockchain network may function as a storage platform for loan information association with a plurality of personal property assets, such as vehicles and buildings. The access computing device may be configured to communicate with the at least one blockchain node computing device to retrieve information from a blockchain associated with a particular personal property asset and/or to update information stored on the blockchain, such as by adding a new block thereto.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of operating a computer system to manage information using blockchains is provided. The method is implemented using an access computing device of the computer system, the method comprising: (a) receiving, from a user, a request for information from a first blockchain, the request including: (i) an asset identifier associated with a personal property asset, (ii) a user identifier associated with the user, and (iii) a user consent to use the asset identifier and the user identifier in a blockchain query; (b) in response to receiving the request, automatically transmitting the blockchain query including the asset identifier and the user identifier to a blockchain node computing device in a blockchain network, the asset identifier causing the blockchain node computing device to retrieve the first blockchain and validate the user identifier with a last block in the first blockchain, the last block including an encryption of first transaction information associated with the personal property asset and the user; © accessing a public key to decrypt the encryption of the existing loan information using a decryption scheme associated with the public key; (d) transmitting, to a remote computing device, second transaction information for a second transaction based at least in part upon the decrypted first transaction information; (e) receiving, from the remote computing device, an acceptance notification indicating acceptance of the second transaction information; and (f) in response to said receiving the acceptance notification: (I) electronically executing a smart contract based on the accepted second transaction information, the executing including transferring, using the smart contract, funds associated with the second transaction and updating, using the smart contract, a title associated with the personal property asset; and (II) automatically transmitting an update instruction to the blockchain node computing device, the update instruction including an encryption of the second transaction information and an encryption of the representation of the executed smart contract, the update instruction causing the blockchain node computing device to generate and store a new block subsequent to the last block, the new block including (i) the encryption of the second transaction information that supersedes the first transaction information, (ii) the encryption of the representation of the executed smart contract, and (iii) a description of data stored in the last block. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternative steps, including those described elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, an access computing device for managing information using blockchains is provided. The access computing device includes at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, and the access computing device is configured to: (a) receive, from a user, a request for information from a first blockchain, the request including: (i) an asset identifier associated with a personal property asset, (ii) a user identifier associated with the user, and (iii) a user consent to use the asset identifier and the user identifier in a blockchain query; (b) in response to receiving the request, automatically transmit the blockchain query including the asset identifier and the user identifier to a blockchain node computing device in a blockchain network, the asset identifier causing the blockchain node computing device to retrieve the first blockchain and validate the user identifier with a last block in the first blockchain, the last block including an encryption of first transaction information associated with the personal property asset and the user; © access a public key to decrypt the encryption of the existing loan information using a decryption scheme associated with the public key; (d) transmit, to a remote computing device, second transaction information for a second transaction based at least in part upon the decrypted first transaction information; (e) receive, from the remote computing device, an acceptance notification indicating acceptance of the second transaction information; and (f) in response to receiving the acceptance notification: (I) electronically execute a smart contract based on the accepted second transaction information, the executing including transferring, using the smart contract, funds associated with the second transaction and updating, using the smart contract, a title associated with the personal property asset; and (II) automatically transmit an update instruction to the blockchain node computing device, the update instruction including an encryption of the second transaction information and an encryption of the representation of the executed smart contract, the update instruction causing the blockchain node computing device to generate and store a new block subsequent to the last block, the new block including (i) the encryption of the second transaction information that supersedes the first transaction information, (ii) the encryption of the representation of the executed smart contract, and (iii) a description of data stored in the last block. The access computing device may have additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of operating a computer system to manage loan information using blockchains may be provided. The method may be implemented using an access computing device of the computer system. The method may include accessing a blockchain network through a first blockchain node computing device, the blockchain network including a plurality of node computing devices that store a respective copy of a plurality of blockchains, each blockchain including a sequence of one or more blocks that are cryptographically verifiable and enforce a chronological order of data stored in subsequent blocks, wherein each block after a first block includes a description of data stored in a previous block. The method may also include receiving a request for information from a first blockchain of the plurality of blockchains, the request including an asset identifier associated with a personal property asset. The method may further include transmitting a query including the asset identifier to the first blockchain node computing device, the asset identifier identifying the first blockchain and causing the blockchain node computing device to identify a last block in the first blockchain, the last block including an encryption of existing loan information for an existing loan associated with the personal property asset. The method may additionally include receiving the encryption of the existing loan information from the first blockchain node computing device, and accessing a public key to decrypt the encryption of the existing loan information. The method may further include transmitting new loan information for a new loan associated with the personal property asset based at least in part upon the decrypted existing loan information, the new loan information superseding the existing loan information. In addition, the method may include receiving an acceptance notification indicating acceptance of the new loan information, and, in response to said receiving the acceptance notification, automatically transmitting an update instruction to the first blockchain node computing device, the update instruction including the new loan information, the update instruction causing the first blockchain node computing device to generate and store a new block subsequent to the last block, the new block including an encryption of the new loan information and a description of data stored in the last block. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternative steps, including those described elsewhere herein.”

There is additional summary information. Please visit full patent to read further.

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method of operating a computer system to manage information using blockchains, the method implemented using an access computing device of the computer system, the method comprising: receiving a request for information that is stored in a first blockchain, the request including: (i) an asset identifier associated with a personal property asset, and (ii) a user identifier associated with the user; in response to receiving the request, transmitting a query including the asset identifier and the user identifier to a blockchain node computing device, the asset identifier prompting the blockchain node computing device to retrieve a first blockchain, the user identifier prompting the blockchain node computing device to match the user identifier with information in a last block in the first blockchain, the last block including an encryption of first transaction information for an existing first transaction associated with the personal property asset and the user; receiving the encryption of the first transaction information from the blockchain node computing device; receiving, from a remote computing device associated with the user, an acceptance notification indicating acceptance of a second transaction associated with the personal property asset including second transaction information, the second transaction information representing an update to the first transaction information; and in response to said receiving the acceptance notification: generating a smart contract associated with the second transaction; electronically executing the smart contract, including updating a title associated with the personal property asset; encrypting the second transaction information and a representation of the executed smart contract; and automatically transmitting an update instruction to the blockchain node computing device, the update instruction causing the blockchain node computing device to generate and store a new block subsequent to the last block, the new block including the encryption of the second transaction information.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said receiving a request for information from a user comprises receiving the request for information or a loan application from a loan applicant applying for a new loan on the personal property asset.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein receiving a loan application comprises receiving the loan application further including requested loan terms associated with the new loan.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising performing one or more credit decisioning processes before accepting the second transaction receiving the acceptance notification.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein performing one or more credit decisioning processes comprises automatically performing the one or more credit decisioning processes upon receiving the request for information.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the personal property asset includes a vehicle, and wherein receiving a request for information including an asset identifier comprises receiving the asset identifier including a vehicle identification number (VIN).

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the personal property asset includes a building, and wherein receiving a request for information including an asset identifier comprises receiving the asset identifier including at least one of an address of the building and a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) number.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the encryption of the first transaction information comprises receiving encrypted existing loan information including at least one of an identifier of an existing loan holder, a start date of the existing loan, an amount of the existing loan, a term of the existing loan, a rate of the existing loan, and a per-diem interest rate of the existing loan in an encrypted format.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an update to the second transaction information; and in response to said receiving an update, transmitting a subsequent update instruction to the blockchain node computing device, the subsequent update instruction causing the blockchain node computing device to generate a subsequent new block in the first blockchain, the subsequent new block including the update to the second transaction information.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising generating the smart contract for the second transaction using the accepted second transaction information.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising encrypting the second transaction information and a representation of the executed smart contract using an encryption scheme associated with a public key.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein encrypting the second transaction information comprising generating a hash of the second transaction information.

“13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising accessing a public key for decrypting the first transaction information.

“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein accessing the public key comprises accessing the public key from the blockchain node computing device.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein accessing the public key comprises accessing the public key from a local storage location.

“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request for information further comprises receiving the request including (iii) a user consent to use the asset identifier and the user identifier in a blockchain query.

“17. An access computing device for managing information using blockchains, the access computing device comprising at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, the access computing device configured to: receive a request for information that is stored in a first blockchain, the request including: (i) an asset identifier associated with a personal property asset, and (ii) a user identifier associated with the user; in response to receiving the request, transmit a query including the asset identifier and the user identifier to a blockchain node computing device, the asset identifier prompting the blockchain node computing device to retrieve a first blockchain, the user identifier prompting the blockchain node computing device to match the user identifier with information in a last block in the first blockchain, the last block including an encryption of first transaction information for an existing first transaction associated with the personal property asset and the user; receive the encryption of the first transaction information from the blockchain node computing device; receive, from a remote computing device associated with the user, an acceptance notification indicating acceptance of a second transaction associated with the personal property asset including second transaction information, the second transaction information representing an update to the first transaction information; and in response to receiving the acceptance notification: generate a smart contract associated with the second transaction; electronically execute the smart contract, including updating a title associated with the personal property asset; encrypt the second transaction information and a representation of the executed smart contract; and automatically transmit an update instruction to the blockchain node computing device, the update instruction causing the blockchain node computing device to generate and store a new block subsequent to the last block, the new block including the encryption of the second transaction information.

“18. The access computing device of claim 17, further configured to access a public key for decrypting the encryption of the first transaction information.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Awasthy, Lokesh. Blockchain systems and methods for managing property loan information. U.S. Patent Number 11810189, filed November 14, 2022, and published online on November 7, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11810189)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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