Patent Issued for Using a distributed ledger for total loss management (USPTO 11301936): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2022 MAY 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Alt, Jacob J. (Downs, IL, US), Bellas, Eric (Bloomington, IL, US), Call, Shawn M. (Bloomington, IL, US), King, Vicki (Bloomington, IL, US), Leise, William J. (Normal, IL, US), Magerkurth, Melinda Teresa (Utica, IL, US), Moore, Eric R. (Heyworth, IL, US), Skaggs, Jaime (Chenoa, IL, US), filed on March 2, 2018, was published online on April 12, 2022.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11301936, is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Conventional techniques associated with tracking and maintaining vehicles have limitations associated with tracking each vehicle’s current location, current owner, and/or current condition. Conventional techniques may also have other drawbacks.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, computer-implemented method for creating and/or maintaining a distributed ledger of transactions pertaining to a particular vehicle may be provided. The method may include (1) receiving, by one or more processors and/or transceivers, vehicle data from one or more remote computing devices (e.g. user mobile devices, connected vehicles, vehicle manufacturer remote servers, bank remote servers, insurance provider remote servers, or repair facility remote servers), such as via wireless communication or data transmission over one or more radio frequency links or digital communication channels; (2) detecting, by the one or more processors, a change in a condition of the vehicle from analysis of the vehicle data, the change in the condition of the vehicle being that the vehicle was involved in a vehicle collision and is classified as a “total loss” vehicle; (3) identifying, by the one or more processors, a VIN of the vehicle or retrieving the VIN from a memory unit when a change in a condition of the vehicle is detected; (4) generating, by the one or more processors, a transaction (i) including the vehicle’s VIN, and (ii) describing the detected change in the condition of the vehicle and/or the status of the total loss vehicle; and/or (5) transmitting, from one or more processors and/or transceivers to a server, the transaction to facilitate creating and/or maintaining a VIN-based distributed ledger for the particular vehicle and/or transferring ownership of the total loss vehicle. The method may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for creating and/or maintaining a VIN-based distributed ledger of total loss-related transactions or events pertaining to a particular vehicle and total loss thereof may be provided. The method may include (1) receiving, by one or more processors and/or transceivers, vehicle data from one or more remote computing devices (e.g. user mobile devices, connected vehicles, vehicle sensors, vehicle manufacturer remote servers, bank remote servers, insurance provider remote servers, or repair facility remote servers), such as via wireless communication or data transmission over one or more radio frequency links or digital communication channels; (2) detecting, by the one or more processors, a total loss-related event for the vehicle from processor analysis of the vehicle data received, the vehicle-related event related to a total loss event associated with the vehicle; (3) identifying, by the one or more processors, the VIN of the vehicle or retrieving the VIN from a memory unit or the vehicle (or the vehicle’s processor or memory) when the total loss-related event for the vehicle is detected; (4) generating, by the one or more processors, a transaction or event (i) including the vehicle’s VIN, (ii) describing the total loss-related event for the vehicle, and/or (iii) detailing a current status, owner, and/or location of the total loss vehicle; (5) generating, by the one or more processors, a smart contract associated with the total loss-related event; and/or (6) transmitting, from one or more processors and/or transceivers to a server (such as via wireless communication or data transmission over one or more radio frequency links), the transaction to facilitate creating and/or maintaining a VIN-based distributed ledger detailing total loss transactions and/or events for the particular vehicle. The method may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a computer system configured for creating and/or maintaining a distributed ledger of transactions pertaining to a particular vehicle may be provided. The computer system comprising one or more processors, sensors, transceivers, and/or servers configured to: (1) receive vehicle data from one or more remote computing devices (e.g. user mobile devices, connected vehicles, vehicle manufacturer remote servers, bank remote servers, insurance provider remote servers, or repair facility remote servers), such as via wireless communication or data transmission over one or more radio frequency links and/or digital communication channels; (2) detect a change in a condition of the vehicle from analysis of the vehicle data, the change in the condition of the vehicle being that the vehicle was involved in a vehicle collision and is classified as a “total loss” vehicle; (3) identify the VIN of the vehicle or retrieving the VIN from a memory unit or vehicle memory unit when a change in a condition of the vehicle is detected; (4) generate a transaction including (i) the vehicle’s VIN, and (ii) describing the detected change in the condition of the vehicle and/or the status of the total loss vehicle; and/or (5) transmit, to a server, the transaction, such as via wireless communication or data transmission over one or more radio frequency links or digital communication channels, to facilitate maintaining a VIN-based distributed ledger for the particular vehicle and/or transferring ownership of the total loss vehicle. The system may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“The methods may be implemented via computer systems, and may include additional, less, or alternate actions or functionality. Systems or computer-readable media storing instructions for implementing all or part of the method described above may also be provided in some aspects. Systems for implementing such methods may include one or more of the following: a special-purpose computing device, a personal electronic device, a processing unit of a vehicle, a remote server, one or more sensors, one or more communication modules configured to communicate wirelessly via radio links, radio frequency links, and/or wireless communication channels, and/or one or more program memories coupled to one or more processors of the personal electronic device, processing unit of the vehicle, or remote server. Such program memories may store instructions to cause the one or more processors to implement part or all of the method described above. Additional or alternative features described herein below may be included in some aspects.

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

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method for creating and maintaining a blockchain of transactions pertaining to a vehicle, wherein blocks of the blockchain use a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) as an identifier, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, vehicle data from one or more remote computing devices; detecting, by the one or more processors, a total loss of the vehicle from the vehicle data; identifying, by the one or more processors, a VIN of the vehicle when the total loss of the vehicle is detected; accessing, by the one or more processors, the blockchain using the VIN of the vehicle as a key to identify a block that uses the VIN of the vehicle as an identifier; generating, by the one or more processors, an update transaction (i) including the vehicle’s VIN, (ii) describing the total loss of the vehicle, (iii) indicating a location of the vehicle, and (iv) including a determination of an insurer of one or more vehicles involved in the vehicle collision; and transmitting, by the one or more processors, the update transaction to (i) add the update transaction to the block that uses the VIN as an identifier, and (ii) facilitate maintaining a VIN-based blockchain for the vehicle and transferring ownership of the total loss vehicle.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle data is received from a remote computing device associated with a connected vehicle or vehicle owner.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method comprising: forming a consensus among a plurality of computing nodes to update the distributed ledger with the update transaction locally by a computing node of the plurality of computing nodes prior to transmitting the update transaction to other computing nodes of the plurality of computing nodes.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the update transaction describes the total loss, a location thereof, that the vehicle was involved in a vehicle collision with another vehicle, a vehicle loan payoff amount and an identification of the lienholder, an indication of salvage proceeds, an indication of loan payoff, an indication of title transfer from a lienholder to an insurer, an indication of title transfer from an insurer to a salvage vendor, an indication of title transfer from a salvage vendor to a new vehicle owner, and combinations thereof.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the update transaction describes the total loss, a location thereof, and a vehicle loan payoff amount and an identification of the lienholder or bank.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein one or more transactions are generated and added to the distributed ledger describe or details the transfer of vehicle title from lienholder to insurer, to salvage vendor, and/or to a new owner.

“7. A computer-implemented method for maintaining a VIN-based blockchain of total loss-related events pertaining to a vehicle and total loss thereof, wherein blocks of the blockchain use a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) as an identifier, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, vehicle data from one or more remote computing devices; detecting, by the one or more processors, a total loss-related event for the vehicle from processor analysis of the received vehicle data; identifying, by the one or more processors, the VIN of the vehicle when the total loss-related event for the vehicle is detected; generating, by the one or more processors, an update transaction (i) including the vehicle’s VIN, (ii) describing the total loss-related event for the vehicle, (iii) detailing a current status, owner, and location of the total loss vehicle, and (iv) including a determination of an insurer of one or more vehicles involved in the vehicle collision; generating, by the one or more processors, a smart contract associated with the total loss-related event, the smart contract configured to use the VIN as an access key to access the smart contract; and transmitting, from one or more processors, the update transaction to (i) add the update transaction to the block that uses the VIN as an identifier, and (ii) facilitate creating and/or maintaining a VIN-based distributed ledger detailing total loss transactions and/or events for the total loss vehicle.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the update transaction describes the total loss, an indication of salvage proceeds, an indication of loan payoff, or combinations thereof.

“9. The computer-implemented of claim 7, wherein the smart contract is associated with title transfer from lien holder to insurer, insurer to salvage vendor, salvage vendor to new owner, or combinations thereof.

“10. The computer-implemented of claim 7, wherein the smart contract is associated with the total loss vehicle, a total loss vehicle parts auction, or combinations thereof.

“11. The computer-implemented of claim 7, wherein the smart contract is associated with a vehicle lien amount.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein one or more transactions are generated and added to the distributed ledger describing the transfer of vehicle title from lienholder to insurer, to salvage vendor, to a new owner, or combinations thereof.

“13. A computer system configured for maintaining a blockchain of transactions pertaining to a vehicle, wherein blocks of the blockchain use a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) as an identifier, the computer system comprising one or more processors, sensors, transceivers, and/or servers configured to: receive vehicle data from one or more remote computing devices; detect a total loss of the vehicle from analysis of the vehicle data; identify the VIN of the vehicle when the total loss of the vehicle is detected; access the blockchain using the VIN of the vehicle as a key to identify a block that uses the VIN of the vehicle as an identifier; generate an update transaction including (i) the vehicle’s VIN, (ii) describing the total loss of the vehicle, (iii) indicating a location of the vehicle, and (iv) including a determination of an insurer of one or more vehicles involved in the vehicle collision; and transmit, to a server, the update transaction to (i) add the update transaction to the block that uses the VIN as an identifier, and (ii) facilitate maintaining a VIN-based blockchain for the vehicle and transferring ownership of the total loss vehicle.

“14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the vehicle data is received from a remote computing device associated with a connected vehicle or vehicle owner.

“15. The computer system of claim 13, the computer system further configured to: form a consensus among a plurality of computing nodes to update the distributed ledger with the transaction, either locally or remotely, or both.

“16. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the update transaction describes the total loss, and a location thereof.

“17. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the update transaction describes the total loss, a location thereof, that the vehicle was involved in a vehicle collision with another vehicle, a vehicle loan or lien payoff amount and an identification of the lienholder or bank, an indication of salvage proceeds, an indication of loan payoff, an indication of title transfer from a lienholder to an insurer, an indication of title transfer from an insurer to a salvage vendor, an indication of title transfer from a salvage vendor to a new vehicle owner, or combinations thereof.

“18. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the update transaction describes the total loss, a location thereof, and a vehicle loan payoff amount and an identification of the lienholder.

“19. The computer system of claim 13, one or more transactions are generated and added to the distributed ledger describe the transfer of vehicle title from lienholder to insurer, to salvage vendor, to a new owner, or combinations thereof.

“20. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the vehicle is the total loss by determining that a cost of damage done to the vehicle exceeds an amount of money that the vehicle is worth.”

For more information, see this patent: Alt, Jacob J. Using a distributed ledger for total loss management. U.S. Patent Number 11301936, filed March 2, 2018, and published online on April 12, 2022. 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=11301936.PN.&OS=PN/11301936RS=PN/11301936

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