Patent Issued for One-To-Many Electronic Signature Process (USPTO 9177345)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Journal of Engineering -- A patent by the inventors Sakkos, George N. (Chicago, IL); Carter, Carolyn Beth (Hoffman Estates, IL); Chen, Yunzhu (Wilmette, IL); Kummer-Donnellan, Victoria Marguerite (Grayslake, IL), filed on January 13, 2015, was published online on November 3, 2015, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews correspondents.

Patent number 9177345 is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, IL).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: "Currently, when a customer is filling out an insurance application or signing a set of mortgage papers, the customer will have to sign his or her name many different times on many different forms in order to complete the application or mortgage process. Also, with technological advances the application process is becoming more of an online process, as opposed to a paper process. However, the signature process is still primarily completed on paper, which is known as a wet signature. Electronic signatures are known in the art and are currently being used with credit card purchases and other one-time signature methods.

"The current online application process is normally completed by the insurance agent with the help of the customer. Once the online application is completed, the agent then generates the required forms along with a fax cover sheet with a barcode. The generated online application is generally in PDF or other electronic paper format. The agent then prints off the PDF version of the application for the customer to wet sign. The agent obtains all the required wet signatures from the customer. This process can require a number of wet signatures by a single customer as well as multiple signatures from multiple customers. The customer may also need to wet initial many different areas in order to meet the application requirements.

"Once the agent has the wet signatures, the agent indicates through the system that the wet signatures are in hand and acknowledges the legal agreement online. The agent will then initiate the submission action to start the data collection feed. Following the submission of the application online, the agent then faxes the fully wet signed application forms with the fax data cover sheet. The cover sheet is normally required to be faxed along with the online application forms in order to provide a tracking mechanism for the company and agent.

"This same current process as described above can be very similar for other processes which require multiple forms and multiple signatures for completion, such as a mortgage application, bank application, loan application, or other more complicated financial transactions."

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, VerticalNews journalists also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

"To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention is directed to methods and systems for providing a one-to-many electronic signature process.

"A first aspect of the invention provides a method of electronically signing a plurality of documents. The method comprises a step of receiving the plurality of documents ready for signature by a customer and an additional step of displaying the plurality of documents to the customer for review. The method comprises a step of receiving an approval by the customer to electronically sign the plurality of documents. The method further includes collecting an electronic signature from the customer. The method finally includes applying the electronic signature to the plurality of documents.

"A second aspect of the invention further includes the above described aspect of the method of electronically signing a plurality of documents, wherein the plurality of documents may comprise an insurance application or a set of mortgage papers.

"In another aspect of the invention, the electronic signature may include a graphical representation of the customer's handwritten (wet) signature. The electronic signature may also comprise initials.

"An additional aspect of the invention further includes the above described aspect of the method of electronically signing a plurality of documents, wherein the method further comprises the step of collecting an electronic signature from an agent and applying the agent's signature to one or more of the plurality of documents. Also, the method may further comprise the step of collecting an electronic signature from a second customer and applying the second customer's electronic signature to one or more of the plurality of documents. There may be any number of customers who need to sign one or more of the plurality of documents, which may be any number of one or more customers.

"An additional embodiment of the invention provides a method of electronically signing an insurance application. The method of electronically signing an insurance application comprises the steps of: receiving the insurance application, displaying the insurance application to a customer for review, collecting an electronic signature from the customer, receiving an approval by the customer to electronically sign the insurance application, applying the customer's electronic signature to each of the signature areas for the customer on the insurance application, collecting an electronic signature from the agent, applying the agent's electronic signature to each of the signature areas for the agent on the insurance application, and submitting the insurance application. The insurance application should be completed and ready for signature by the customer. Also, the insurance application includes a plurality of forms with a plurality of signatures for the customer and the agent. The electronic signature includes a graphical representation of the customer's handwritten signature. The electronic signature may also include initials.

"Another embodiment of the invention provides an apparatus including a display, a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory and programmed with computer-executable instructions for performing a method that includes receiving a plurality of documents ready for signature by a customer, displaying the plurality of documents for review, collecting an electronic signature from the customer, receiving an approval by the customer to electronically sign the plurality of documents, and applying the customer's electronic signature to the plurality of documents.

"An additional aspect of the invention provides an apparatus including a display, a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory and programmed with computer-executable instructions for performing a method including receiving the insurance application, displaying the insurance application to a customer for review, collecting an electronic signature from the customer, receiving an approval by the customer to electronically sign the insurance application, applying the customer's electronic signature to each of the signature areas for the customer on the insurance application, collecting an electronic signature from the agent, applying the agent's electronic signature to each of the signature areas for the agent on the insurance application, and submitting the insurance application."

URL and more information on this patent, see: Sakkos, George N.; Carter, Carolyn Beth; Chen, Yunzhu; Kummer-Donnellan, Victoria Marguerite. One-To-Many Electronic Signature Process. U.S. Patent Number 9177345, filed January 13, 2015, and published online on November 3, 2015. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=9177345.PN.&OS=PN/9177345RS=PN/9177345

Keywords for this news article include: Insurance Companies, Allstate Insurance Company.

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2015, NewsRx LLC