Smart contracts for vehicle events

• US 10,740,849 B1
• Filed: 03/02/2018
• Issued: 08/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Leise, William J., Alt, Jacob J., Skaggs, Jaime, Bellas, Eric, Call, Shawn M., Moore, Eric R., Magerkurth, Melinda Teresa, King, Vicki
• Primary Examiner(s): Liu, I Jung
• Application Number:
  US15/910,300
• Time in Patent Office: 893 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/182 Distributed file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2255 Hash tables
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9027 Trees
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2220/00 Business processing using cryptography postage metering system using cryptography G06Q2250/05
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0637 : Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0643 : Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 : involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 : using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for interacting with smart contracts stored on a blockchain to control vehicle related activity. The systems and methods may include (1) receiving one or more transactions from one or more computing devices, the transactions associated with a particular vehicle and include a VIN for the vehicle and indicative of at least one of a trigger condition associated with the vehicle; (2) compiling the one or more transactions into a block of transactions; (3) distributing the block to a plurality of validation entities to form a consensus on an update to the distributed ledger; (4) routing the one or more transactions within the block to respective smart contracts associated with the VIN; and/or (5) automatically executing an action the particular smart contract directs should be performed in response to the particular trigger condition.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for interacting with a distributed ledger of transactions pertaining to a plurality of smart contracts, the method comprising:

receiving, at one or more processors, one or more transactions from one or more computing devices, the transactions associated with a particular vehicle and include a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the vehicle and indicative of at least one of a trigger condition or a decision condition associated with one or more smart contracts associated with the vehicle;

compiling, by the one or more processors, the one or more transactions into a block of transactions;

distributing, by the one or more processors, the block to a plurality of validation entities to form a consensus on an update to the distributed ledger;

routing, by the one or more processors, the one or more transactions within the block to respective smart contracts associated with the VIN, wherein a particular transaction corresponding to a particular smart contract indicates that a particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract has occurred; and

automatically executing, by the one or more processors, an action the particular smart contract directs should be performed in response to the particular trigger condition, the action determined based upon a decision condition included in a transaction routed to the particular smart contract.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to vehicle maintenance, vehicle repair, vehicle financing, vehicle registration, vehicle titling, vehicle ownership, or combinations thereof.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to auto insurance.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein automatically executing the action further comprises:

updating, by the one or more processors, an insurance policy date, an insurance claim date, or updating both.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein automatically executing the action comprises:

updating, by the one or more processors, a usage-based insurance policy based upon telematics data, or odometer data received from a customer vehicle or mobile device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to vehicle financing.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein automatically executing the action further comprises:

updating or generating, via the one or more processors, a vehicle lien payoff amount.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to auto insurance.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein automatically executing the action further comprises:

verifying, by the one or more processors, an insurance policy for the vehicle associated with the VIN, the owner of the insurance policy, one or more insurance coverages and limits under the insurance policy, or combinations thereof.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to a vehicle manufacturer.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein automatically executing the action further comprises:

issuing, by the one or more processors, a recall notice from the vehicle manufacturer to the owner of the vehicle associated with the VIN using owner contact information stored in the distributed ledger.

12. A computer-implemented method for interacting with a distributed ledger of transactions pertaining to a plurality of smart contracts, the method comprising:

receiving, at one or more processors, one or more transactions from one or more computing devices, the transactions associated with a particular vehicle and include a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the vehicle and indicative of at least one of a trigger condition or a decision condition associated with one or more smart contracts associated with the vehicle;

verifying, by the one or more processors, validity of the one or more transactions;

compiling, by the one or more processors, the one or more transactions into a block of transactions;

distributing, by the one or more processors, the block to a plurality of validation entities to form a consensus on an update to the distributed ledger;

routing, by the one or more processors, the one or more transactions within the block to respective smart contracts associated with the VIN, wherein a particular transaction corresponding to a particular smart contract indicates that a particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract has occurred; and

automatically executing, by the one or more processors, an action the particular smart contract directs should be performed in response to the particular trigger condition, the action determined based upon a decision condition included in a transaction routed to the particular smart contract.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to vehicle maintenance, vehicle repair, vehicle financing, vehicle registration, vehicle titling, vehicle ownership, or combinations thereof.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to auto insurance.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein automatically executing the action further comprises:

updating, by the one or more processors, an insurance policy date, an insurance claim date, or updating both.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein automatically executing the action comprises:

updating, by the one or more processors, a usage-based insurance policy based upon telematics data, or odometer data received from a customer vehicle or mobile device.

17. A computer system for maintaining a distributed ledger of transactions pertaining to a particular vehicle, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more transceivers adapted to communicate with connected vehicle and other computer devices;

a non-transitory program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to;

receive one or more transactions from the connected vehicle or other computing devices, the transactions indicative of at least one of a trigger condition or a decision condition associated with one or more smart contracts, identified by Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), governing or associated with the particular vehicle;

compile the one or more transactions into a block of transactions;

distribute the block to a plurality of validation entities to form a consensus on an update to the distributed ledger;

route the plurality of transactions within the block to respective smart contracts, wherein a particular transaction corresponding to a particular smart contract indicates that a trigger condition for the particular smart contract has occurred; and

automatically execute an action the particular smart contract directs should be performed in response to the particular trigger condition, the action determined based upon a decision condition included in a transaction routed to the particular smart contract.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the particular trigger condition for the particular smart contract is related to auto insurance.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein automatically executing the action further comprises:

update an insurance policy date, an insurance claim date, or updating both.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein automatically executing the action comprises:

updating, by the one or more processors, a usage-based insurance policy based upon telematics data, or odometer data received from a customer vehicle or mobile device.