Patent Issued for Intelligent employment-based blockchain (USPTO 11941583): Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

2024 APR 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (Springfield, Massachusetts, United States) has been issued patent number 11941583, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Ferry, Rick (Springfield, MA, US), Gibadlo, Krzysztof (Springfield, MA, US), John, Jiby (Suffield, CT, US), Knas, Michal (Monson, MA, US).

This patent was filed on April 18, 2022 and was published online on March 26, 2024.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Employees are continuously changing jobs, so the resumes and references of those employees are often updated with new or additional information. Many new employers must verify the information within the employees resumes. A problem that exists with employment verification is the amount of administrative work to contact each previous employer and verify certain information. As expected, this manual process is tedious, time-consuming, inefficient, and sometimes inaccurate. For example, a previous employer may not be as easily accessible or may transmit false information regarding the employee.

“As the processing power of computers allow for greater computer functionality and the Internet technology era allows for interconnectivity between computing systems, many institutions store employee data records electronically. These institutions simply store the data in a database and retrieve it when necessary. However, since the implementation of these more sophisticated online tools, several shortcomings in these technologies have been identified and have created a new set of challenges. First, existing and conventional methods fail to provide fast and efficient analysis due to a high volume of customer information existing on different networks and computing infrastructures. Managing such information on different platforms is difficult due to number, size, content, or relationships of the data associated with the customers. Second, information stored in a database may be susceptible to risk and/or fraudulent modification. For example, the database may be subject to cyber-attacks. Third, access to previous employer’s databases may be limited due to security concerns. For instance, an employee may not have access to an employer’s database once he decides to change employers. As a result, employment data records are not transferrable with the employee.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “For the aforementioned reasons, there is a need for a more accurate system and method, which would allow employees to accurately store and access employee records, profile, and other pertinent employment information in a more efficient manner than possible with human-intervention or conventional data-driven software solutions. Disclosed herein are systems and methods for dynamic generation of an intelligent employment-based blockchain using distributed databases.

“Distributed databases such as distributed ledgers ensure the integrity of data by generating a chain of data blocks linked together by cryptographic hashes of the data records in the data blocks. For example, a cryptographic hash of at least a portion of data records within a first block, and, in some cases, combined with a portion of data records in previous blocks is used to generate the block address for a new digital identity block succeeding the first block. As an update to the data records stored in the one or more data blocks, a new data block is generated containing respective updated data records and linked to a preceding block with an address based upon a cryptographic hash of at least a portion of the data records in the preceding block. In other words, the linked blocks form a blockchain that inherently includes a traceable sequence of addresses that can be used to track the updates to the data records contained therein.

“The linked blocks (or blockchain) may be distributed among multiple network nodes within a computer network such that each node may maintain a copy of the blockchain. Malicious network nodes attempting to compromise the integrity of the database have to recreate and redistribute the blockchain faster than the honest network nodes, which, in most cases, is computationally infeasible. In other words, data integrity is guaranteed by the virtue of multiple network nodes in a network having a copy of the same blockchain. A central trust authority is therefore not required to vouch for the integrity of the distributed database hosted by multiple nodes in the network.

“In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises receiving, by a server from a first network node, a first request to generate an employment record associated with a user operating the first network node; generating, by a server, a graphical user interface to be displayed on the first network node, the graphical user interface comprising a plurality of input fields configured to receive data associated with employment of the user; upon displaying the graphical user interface on the first network node, receiving, by the server, a first set of data associated with employment of the user; generating, by the server, a user employment record of the user in a non-blockchain system database configured to store a plurality of user employment records, the user employment record comprising one or more data fields containing the first set of data; generating, by the server, a first cryptographic hash value based at least on one of the user, the first set of data, and the first network node, according to a hashing algorithm; updating, by the server, a first block instance of an employment blockchain with the first cryptographic hash value, the first block instance being stored within the first network node; receiving, by the server from a second network node, a second request to update the employment blockchain; upon displaying the graphical user interface on the second network node, receiving, by the server, a second set of data associated with employment of the user; updating, by the server, the user employment record of the user in the non-blockchain system database based on the second set of data; retrieving, by the server, a latest valid employment blockchain, wherein content of the latest valid employment blockchain is confirmed by the first network node; appending, by the server, a second block instance to the first block instance by: generating a second cryptographic hash value identifying the user, the second set of data, and the second network node, according to a hashing algorithm; and updating a second block instance with the second cryptographic hash value, the second block instance being stored at least within the second network node; transmitting, by the server, the second block instance to the first network node.

“In another embodiment, a computer system comprises a plurality of network nodes comprising at least a first network node and a second network node; a non-blockchain system database configured to store a plurality of user employment records; and a server communicatively in connection with the plurality of network nodes and the non-blockchain system database, wherein the server is configured to receive, from the first network node, a first request to generate an employment record associated with a user operating the first network node; generate a graphical user interface to be displayed on the first network node, the graphical user interface comprising a plurality of input fields configured to receive data associated with employment of the user; upon displaying the graphical user interface on the first network node, receiving a first set of data associated with employment of the user; generate a user employment record of the user in the non-blockchain system database; generate a first cryptographic hash value based at least on one of the user, the first set of data, and the first network node, according to a hashing algorithm; update a first block instance of an employment blockchain with the first cryptographic hash value, the first block instance being stored within the first network node; receive, from the second network node, a second request to update the employment blockchain; upon displaying the graphical user interface on the second network node, receive a second set of data associated with employment of the user; update the user employment record of the user in the non-blockchain system database based on the second set of data; retrieve a latest valid employment blockchain, wherein content of the latest valid employment blockchain is confirmed by the first network node; append a second block instance to the first block instance by generating a second cryptographic hash value identifying the user, the second set of data, and the second network node, according to a hashing algorithm; and updating a second block instance with the second cryptographic hash value, the second block instance being stored at least within the second network node; transmit the second block instance to the first network node.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for generating a customized blockchain-based resume comprising: receiving, by a first computing device in communication with one or more computing devices maintaining a blockchain from a second computing device operated by a user of a plurality of users, a request to generate a customized dataset comprising data stored onto the blockchain, the blockchain comprising a plurality of block instances comprising at least work history data associated with at least a portion of the users within the plurality of users; retrieving, by the first computing device, user work history data associated with the user from one or more block instances of the plurality of block instances; in response to presenting the user work history data on a display of the second computing device, receiving, by the first computing device, a selection of a subset of the user work history data from the second computing device; identifying, by the first computing device, two or more block instances of the plurality of block instances based on each of the two or more block instances containing at least a portion of the selection of the subset of the user work history data; generating, by the first computing device, a blockchain address corresponding to two or more hash values of the identified two or more block instances, the blockchain address configured to provide access only to the two or more block instances; transmitting, by the first computing device, the blockchain address to the second computing device, wherein the second computing device is configured to transmit the blockchain address to a third computing device; receiving, by the first computing device, the blockchain address from the third computing device; in response to receiving the blockchain address, retrieving, by the first computing device, the subset of the user work history data only from the two or more block instances indicated by the blockchain address; and presenting, by the first computing device on the third computing device, the subset of the user work history data retrieved only from the two or more block instances indicated by the blockchain address.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the subset of the user work history data to the third computing device comprises presenting, by the first computing device, the subset of the user work history data on a second display of the third computing device.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the selection comprises receiving, by the first computing device, an identification of a category of user work history data; and wherein generating the blockchain address comprises generating, by the first computing device, the blockchain address to have the two or more hash values of the two or more block instances responsive to each block instance of the two or more block instances having user work history data of the category.

“4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the first computing device from the second computing device, an identification of a category of user work history data, wherein retrieving the user work history data comprises retrieving, by the first computing device, user work history data except for user work history data of the category.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the first computing device, an identification of a previous employer of the user, wherein retrieving the user work history data comprises retrieving, by the first computing device, user work history data associated with the user except for user work history data regarding the user’s employment with the previous employer.

“6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the first computing device, a second selection of a second subset of user work history data associated with the user; and adding, by the first computing device to the blockchain address, second one or more hash values of a second subset of the plurality of block instances responsive to each block instance of the second subset having at least a portion of the second subset of the user work history data.

“7. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the user work history data on the display of the second computing device comprises presenting the user work history data organized by computing device of the one or more computing devices from which the user work history data was received.

“8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user work history data comprises data about employment of the user.

“9. A computer system for generating a customized blockchain-based resume comprising: a first computing device in communication with one or more computing devices maintaining a blockchain, the first computing device configured to: receive, from a second computing device operated by a user of a plurality of users, a request to generate a customized dataset comprising data stored onto the blockchain, the blockchain comprising a plurality of block instances comprising at least work history data associated with at least a portion of the users within the plurality of users; retrieve user work history data associated with the user from the plurality of block instances; in response to presenting the user work history data on a display of the second computing device, receive a selection of a subset of the user work history data from the second computing device; identify two or more block instances of the plurality of block instances based on each of the two or more block instances containing at least a portion of the selection of the subset of the user work history data; generate a blockchain address corresponding to two or more hash values of the identified two or more block instances, the blockchain address configured to provide access only to the two more block instances; transmit the blockchain address to the second computing device, wherein the second computing device is configured to transmit the blockchain address to a third computing device; receive the blockchain address from the third computing device; in response to receiving the blockchain address, retrieve the subset of the user work history data only from the two or more block instances indicated by the blockchain address; and present the subset of the user work history data on the third computing device retrieved only from the two or more block instances indicated by the blockchain address.

“10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first computing device is configured to transmit the subset of the user work history data to the third computing device by presenting the subset of the user work history data on a second display of the third computing device.

“11. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first computing device is configured to receive the selection by receiving an identification of a category of user work history data; and wherein the first computing device is configured to generate the blockchain address by generating the blockchain address to have the two or more hash values of the two or more block instances responsive to each block instance of the two or more block instances having user work history data of the category.

“12. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first computing device is further configured to receive an identification of a category of user work history data; and wherein the first computing device is configured to retrieve the user work history data by retrieving user work history data except for user work history data of the category.

“13. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first computing device is further configured to receive an identification of a previous employer of the user; and wherein the first computing device is configured to retrieve the user work history data by retrieving user work history data associated with the user except for user work history data regarding the user’s employment with the previous employer.

“14. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: receive a second selection of a second subset of user work history data associated with the user; and add, to the blockchain address, second one or more hash values of a second subset of the plurality of block instances responsive to each block instance of the second subset having at least a portion of the second subset of the user work history data.

“15. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first computing device is configured to present the user work history data on the display of the second computing device by presenting the user work history data organized by computing device of the one or more computing devices from which the user work history data was received.

“16. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the user work history data comprises data about employment of the user.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Ferry, Rick. Intelligent employment-based blockchain. U.S. Patent Number 11941583, filed April 18, 2022, and published online on March 26, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11941583)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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