Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Systems And Methods For Using Tokenized Icons To Provide Insurance Policy Quotes”, for Approval (USPTO 20230230175): Patent Application

2023 AUG 09 (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 inventor Davis, Timothy Joel (Warrenville, IL, US), filed on March 17, 2023, was made available online on July 20, 2023.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “When a person wishes to insure an insurable asset, such as a home or vehicle, against damage, the person may request a quote for an insurance policy. The insurance policy may be designed to disburse a claim amount to an owner of the insurance policy when the asset is damaged. The amount of the claim disbursement paid to the owner may correspond to an amount of damage, a nature of the damage, and/or an estimated cost to repair the damage, compared to a pre-insured value of the asset (or a value of the asset established during a quote process before the insurance policy is purchased). A cost for the insurance policy may depend on a number of factors which may include, but are not limited to including, an age of the asset, personal characteristics of an owner of the asset and other potential users of the asset, primary geographic location of the asset, types and causes of damage insured against, and amount of insurance coverage. If a person wishes to submit a claim under the insurance policy to recover damage or other loss affecting the insured asset, it may be necessary for the person to provide information about the damage and/or an incident that led to the damage.

“At least some known systems may require a user seeking an insurance quote, or a user seeking to purchase or modify an insurance policy, or a user seeking to submit a claim under an insurance policy, to manually input at least some of the associated data into a software platform configured to prepare a quote, issue a policy, or handle a claim for an insurable asset. Needless to say, the entire data entry process may be time-consuming and laborious. For example, but not by way of limitation, a user may wish to request a quote for, purchase, or modify a policy, or submit a claim under a policy, using a mobile device, such as a smart phone, and entry of data via typing on the mobile device interface may be cumbersome. Any reduction in the time and/or labor involved in the process of requesting a quote for, purchasing, or modifying an insurance policy, or submitting a claim under an insurance policy, may be desirable.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “The present embodiments may relate to systems and methods for using a tokenized icon to provide a quote for an insurance policy, or to handle an insurance claim. An insurance server computing device, as described herein, may include an insurer application that includes at least one processor in communication with a memory. The insurance server computing device may be configured to implement various software applications or platforms to generate tokenized icons. An icon associated with each tokenized icon may be used in a graphical interface of a user application executed on a remote user device. The insurer application may be configured to modify metadata associated with the tokenized icons based upon reports received from the user application with regard to a user’s manipulation of the icons. The insurer application may be configured to generate one or more insurance quotes and/or a proposed virtual insurance claim requested by the user application based upon the modified metadata.

“In one aspect, an insurance server (or computer system) for using a tokenized icon to provide a quote for an insurance policy may be provided. The insurance server may include at least one processor in communication with a memory. The at least one processor may be programmed to receive an image from a user application in connection with a request for a quote for an insurance policy. The at least one processor may also be programmed to obtain data associated with the image, wherein at least a portion of the obtained data is associated as metadata with the tokenized icon. The at least one processor may also be programmed to instruct the user application to use an icon associated with the tokenized icon as a first graphical object. The at least one processor may also be programmed to modify, in response to an association of the first graphical object with a second graphical object in the user application, the metadata of the tokenized icon based upon data associated with the second graphical object. The at least one processor may also be programmed to transmit the quote to the user application, wherein the quote is based at least partially on the modified metadata. The server or computer system may include additional, less, or alternate functionality including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for using a tokenized icon to provide a quote for an insurance policy may be provided. The method may be implemented using an insurance server including a processor in communication with a memory. The method may include (1) receiving an image from a user application in connection with a request for a quote for an insurance policy; and (2) obtaining data associated with the image, wherein at least a portion of the obtained data is associated as metadata with the tokenized icon. The method may also include (3) instructing the user application to use an icon associated with the tokenized icon as a first graphical object; and (4) modifying, in response to an association of the first graphical object with a second graphical object in the user application, the metadata of the tokenized icon based upon data associated with the second graphical object. The method may also include (5) transmitting the quote to the user application, wherein the quote is based at least partially on the modified metadata. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein, and may be implemented via one or more local or remote processors.

“In yet another aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon may be provided. When executed by an insurance server including at least one processor in communication with a memory, the computer-executable instructions may cause the at least one processor to receive an image from a user application in connection with a request for a quote for an insurance policy. The computer-executable instructions may also cause the at least one processor to obtain data associated with the image, wherein at least a portion of the obtained data is associated as metadata with a tokenized icon. The computer-executable instructions may also cause the at least one processor to instruct the user application to use an icon associated with the tokenized icon as a first graphical object. The computer-executable instructions may also cause the at least one processor to modify, in response to an association of the first graphical object with a second graphical object in the user application, the metadata of the tokenized icon based upon data associated with the second graphical object. The computer-executable instructions may also cause the at least one processor to transmit the quote to the user application, wherein the quote is based at least partially on the modified metadata. The instructions may direct additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments, 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 Figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the systems and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. An insurance server for creating a tokenized icon to provide a quote for an insurance policy, the insurance server comprising: at least one processor; and a memory in communication with the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to: receive an image from a user application executing on a user device in connection with a request for a quote for an insurance policy, wherein the image includes an item to be insured; obtain data associated with the item included in the image; convert at least a portion of the obtained data into metadata that is associated with the image to create a tokenized icon; cause (i) a first graphical object representing the item to be displayed on the user device using the user application and (ii) a second graphical object representing the user to be displayed on the user device using the user application, the second graphical object including user data associated with the user; prompt the user, via the user device and the user application, to indicate an association between the item represented by the first graphical object and the user represented by the second graphical object by moving one of the first graphical object and the second graphical object relative to the other graphical object such that the first and second graphical objects show the association between the item and the user; modify, in response to the association of the first graphical object with the second graphical object, the metadata of the tokenized icon based upon the user data associated with the second graphical object; and transmit the quote to the user application, wherein the quote is based at least partially on the modified metadata.

“2. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to obtain the data associated with the item included in the image at least partially by extracting the data from the image.

“3. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to obtain the data associated with the item included in the image at least partially by retrieving internal data from an insurer database.

“4. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to obtain the data associated with the item included in the image at least partially by retrieving external data from a third-party database.

“5. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the second graphical object includes at least one of a personal photograph, a name, an address, a gender, a signature, a license number, and a date of birth of the user.

“6. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the item to be insured is a vehicle, and wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to obtain the data associated with the item included in the image at least partially by extracting a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from the image of a VIN plate of the vehicle, and by retrieving a make and model of the vehicle from a third-party database based upon the VIN.

“7. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to select a personal photograph extracted from an image of a driver’s license of the user as the second graphical object.

“8. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the item to be insured is a vehicle, and wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to: obtain the data associated with the item included in the image at least partially by extracting a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from the image of a VIN plate of the vehicle; and select a stock image of the vehicle as the icon.

“9. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to: identify, in a database, at least one of a family member and a household member associated with the user; and select a stock image of a person as the second graphical object.

“10. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the tokenized icon is associated with a vehicle, and the at least one processor is further programmed to modify the metadata of the tokenized icon to include at least one of an owner, a primary driver, and a secondary driver indicated by the association of the first graphical object with the second graphical object that is an image of a person.

“11. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the tokenized icon is associated with a home, and the at least one processor is further programmed to modify the metadata of the tokenized icon to include at least one of an owner and a resident of the home indicated by the association of the first graphical object with the second graphical object that is an image of a person.

“12. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the tokenized icon is associated with a vehicle, and the at least one processor is further programmed to modify the metadata of the tokenized icon to include a garage location indicated by the association of the first graphical object with the second graphical object that is a map.

“13. The insurance server of claim 1, wherein the tokenized icon is associated with an electronic signature authorization of a user, and the at least one processor is further programmed to modify the metadata of the tokenized icon to record a purchase of the quoted insurance policy indicated by the association of the first graphical object with the second graphical object, wherein the quoted insurance policy is updated based at least partially upon the modified metadata.

“14. A computer-implemented method for creating a tokenized icon to provide a quote for an insurance policy, the method implemented using an insurance server including a processor in communication with a memory, the method comprising: receiving an image from a user application executing on a user device in connection with a request for a quote for an insurance policy, wherein the image includes an item to be insured; obtaining data associated with the item included in the image; converting at least a portion of the obtained data into metadata that is associated with the image to create a tokenized icon; causing (i) a first graphical object representing the item to be displayed on the user device using the user application and (ii) a second graphical object representing the user to be displayed on the user device using the user application, the second graphical object including user data associated with the user; prompting the user, via the user device and the user application, to indicate an association between the item represented by the first graphical object and the user represented by the second graphical object by moving one of the first graphical object and the second graphical object relative to the other graphical object such that the first and second graphical objects show the association between the item and the user; modifying, in response to the association of the first graphical object with the second graphical object, the metadata of the tokenized icon based upon the user data associated with the second graphical object; and transmitting the quote to the user application, wherein the quote is based at least partially on the modified metadata.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein obtaining the data associated with the item included in the image comprises extracting the data from the image.

“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 further comprising modifying the metadata of the tokenized icon to record a purchase of the quoted insurance policy indicated by the association of the first graphical object with the second graphical object, wherein the quoted insurance policy is updated based at least partially upon the modified metadata.

“17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein obtaining the data associated with the item included in the image comprises retrieving internal data from an insurer database.

“18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the item to be insured is a vehicle, and wherein obtaining the data associated with the item included in the image comprises: extracting a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from the image of a VIN plate of the vehicle; and retrieving a make and model of the vehicle from a third-party database based upon the VIN.”

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

For additional information on this patent application, see: Davis, Timothy Joel. Systems And Methods For Using Tokenized Icons To Provide Insurance Policy Quotes. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230230175, filed March 17, 2023 and posted July 20, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230230175)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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