Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Control Method, Computer Program Product, And Storage Medium”, for Approval (USPTO 20230306092): Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co. Ltd.

2023 OCT 16 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Washington, D.C., NewsRx journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Hirota, Tomoyuki (Hyogo Ken, Japan); Nishi, Takahiro (Nara Ken, Japan); Sugio, Toshiyasu (Osaka Fu, Japan); Toma, Tadamasa (Osaka Fu, Japan); Yahata, Hiroshi (Osaka Fu, Japan), filed on March 15, 2023, was made available online on September 28, 2023.

The patent’s assignee is Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “JP 2012-67489 A discloses a method for changing a cipher key for an electronic key system to a cipher key for a valet mode when a vehicle operation mode is switched from a normal mode to the valet mode.

“However, the technique described in JP 2012-67489 A requires further improvement.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “A control method according to an aspect of the present disclosure is performed in a first computer configured to access at least one database managing vehicle information on a plurality of vehicles and a plurality of electronic keys corresponding to the plurality of vehicles. The control method includes: receiving, from a first terminal of a first user via a network, first authentication information including a first electronic key available to the first user and a first vehicle identification (ID) for identifying a first vehicle that the first user requests to use; determining that the first authentication information is valid based on the first electronic key, the first vehicle ID, and the at least one database, and then transmitting, to the first vehicle via the network, a first permission signal indicating that the first user is permitted to use the first vehicle; after the first user starts using the first vehicle, acquiring first use information indicating a status of use of the first vehicle from the first vehicle via the network; transmitting, in a case where the first electronic key is a first company key correlated with a first business entity that the first user belongs to, at least a part of the first use information to a second computer related to the first business entity via the network; and not transmitting, in a case where the first electronic key is a first personal key of the first user, the at least a part of the first use information to the second computer.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A control method in a first computer configured to access at least one database managing vehicle information on a plurality of vehicles and a plurality of electronic keys corresponding to the plurality of vehicles, the control method comprising: receiving, from a first terminal of a first user via a network, first authentication information including a first electronic key available to the first user and a first vehicle identification (ID) for identifying a first vehicle that the first user requests to use; determining that the first authentication information is valid based on the first electronic key, the first vehicle ID, and the at least one database, and then transmitting, to the first vehicle via the network, a first permission signal indicating that the first user is permitted to use the first vehicle; after the first user starts using the first vehicle, acquiring first use information indicating a status of use of the first vehicle from the first vehicle via the network; transmitting, in a case where the first electronic key is a first company key correlated with a first business entity that the first user belongs to, at least a part of the first use information to a second computer related to the first business entity via the network; and not transmitting, in a case where the first electronic key is a first personal key of the first user, the at least a part of the first use information to the second computer.

“2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein in the first terminal, a plurality of first electronic keys including the first company key and the first personal key is stored, the first electronic key is one selected from among the plurality of first electronic keys in the first terminal, and the first permission signal includes an unlock instruction for unlocking a door of the first vehicle.

“3. The control method according to claim 1, wherein the second computer is a computer used by a first insurance company with which the first business entity has a contract of a first automobile insurance.

“4. The control method according to claim 3, comprising transmitting, in a case where the first electronic key is the first personal key, at least a part of the first use information to a third computer, wherein the third computer is a computer used by a second insurance company with which the first user personally has a contract of a second automobile insurance.

“5. The control method according to claim 4, further comprising in a case where the first electronic key is the first company key, after determining that the first authentication information is valid, transmitting a first check request for requesting confirmation of an insurance for which the first business entity has a contract with the first insurance company to the second computer via the network, receiving, in the second computer, based on the first check request, a first check result indicating that a contract detail of the first automobile insurance has been confirmed from the second computer via the network, and after receiving the first check result, transmitting the first permission signal to the first vehicle.

“6. The control method according to claim 5, further comprising in a case where the first electronic key is the first personal key, after determining that the first authentication information is valid, transmitting a second check request for requesting confirmation of an insurance for which the first user has a contract with the second insurance company to the third computer via the network, receiving, in the third computer, based on the second check request, a second check result indicating that a contract detail of the second automobile insurance has been confirmed from the third computer via the network, and after receiving the second check result, transmitting the first permission signal to the first vehicle.

“7. The control method according to claim 6, wherein in a case where the first electronic key is the first company key, the first permission signal includes a first display instruction for causing first insurance information indicating at least a part of the contract detail of the first automobile insurance to be displayed in a display provided in a vehicle interior of the first vehicle, and in a case where the first electronic key is the first personal key, the first permission signal includes a second display instruction for causing second insurance information indicating at least a part of the contract detail of the second automobile insurance to be displayed in the display.

“8. The control method according to claim 6, further comprising in a case where the first electronic key is the first personal key, and further in a case where an automobile insurance contracted personally by the first user is not identified, transmitting, to the first vehicle via the network, a display instruction signal for displaying recommended insurance information indicating an automobile insurance to be recommended to the first user in a display provided in a vehicle interior of the first vehicle, receiving a third check result indicating that the first user has taken the recommended automobile insurance from the first vehicle via the network, and after receiving the third check result, permitting the first user to use the first vehicle.

“9. The control method according to claim 4, wherein the at least one database further manages insurance company information and address information, the insurance company information being related to a plurality of insurance companies with which a plurality of users or a plurality of business entities to which the plurality of users belongs has a contract, the address information indicating network addresses of a plurality of computers used by the plurality of insurance companies, in a case where the first electronic key is the first company key, first address information indicating a network address of the second computer used by the first insurance company is identified by checking the first company key with the at least one database, and in a case where the first electronic key is the first personal key, second address information indicating a network address of the third computer used by the second insurance company is identified by checking the first personal key with the at least one database.

“10. The control method according to claim 4, wherein in a case where the first electronic key is the first company key, the first authentication information further includes first address information indicating a network address of the second computer used by the first insurance company, and in a case where the first electronic key is the first personal key, the first authentication information further includes second address information indicating a network address of the third computer used by the second insurance company.

“11. The control method according to claim 1, wherein the second computer is a business computer used by the first business entity, and in a case where the first electronic key is the first company key, the at least a part of the first use information transmitted to the second computer includes the first vehicle ID and a first travel history in which location information of the first vehicle is correlated with time information.

“12. The control method according to claim 11, further comprising in a case where the first electronic key is the first company key, transmitting a first setting instruction for setting a control mode of the first vehicle to a company vehicle mode to the first vehicle via the network, and in a case where the first electronic key is the first personal key, transmitting a second setting instruction for setting the control mode of the first vehicle to a private vehicle mode to the first vehicle via the network.

“13. The control method according to claim 12, wherein a first travel distance of a first route from a first departure place to a first destination in the company vehicle mode is longer than a second travel distance of a second route from the first departure place to the first destination in the private vehicle mode, or, alternatively, a first travel time taken in a case of traveling from the first departure place to the first destination in the company vehicle mode is longer than a second travel time taken in a case of traveling from the first departure place to the first destination in the private vehicle mode.

“14. The control method according to claim 12, wherein in the company vehicle mode, first advertisement information for the first user is displayed in a display provided in a vehicle interior of the first vehicle, in the private vehicle mode, second advertisement information for the first user is displayed in the display, and at least one of a display frequency, a display position, or a display content of the first advertisement information is different from that of the second advertisement information.

“15. The control method according to claim 11, further comprising at a start of using the first vehicle with the first company key, acquiring first battery information indicating a first storage amount stored in a battery mounted on the first vehicle from the first vehicle via the network, at an end of using the first vehicle with the first company key, acquiring second battery information indicating a second storage amount stored in the battery from the first vehicle via the network, and executing payment processing with an amount of money reflecting an amount of change from the first storage amount to the second storage amount for the business computer used by the first business entity, or, for a financial computer used by a financial institution managing a payment method of the first business entity.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For additional information on this patent application, see: Hirota, Tomoyuki; Nishi, Takahiro; Sugio, Toshiyasu; Toma, Tadamasa; Yahata, Hiroshi. Control Method, Computer Program Product, And Storage Medium. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230306092, filed March 15, 2023 and posted September 28, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230306092)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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