Patents by Inventor Eric Bellas
Eric Bellas has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
-
Publication number: 20220036476Abstract: A method for identifying a primary vehicle associated with a user of a mobile device includes receiving an indication of a vehicle entry event from a mobile device and retrieving sensor data from the mobile device. The method further includes receiving an indication of a vehicle exit event from the mobile device, generating a trip log including portions of the sensor data, and storing the trip log in a trip database. A server, or other suitable computing device, then analyzes the trip log and a plurality of previously stored trip logs in the trip database to determine a primary vehicle corresponding to the user of the mobile device. The method may allow a computing device to assign gathered mobile device data to a specific household vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 18, 2021Publication date: February 3, 2022Inventors: Nicholas U. Christopulos, Nicholas R. Baker, Eric Bellas, Benjamin F. Bowne
-
Patent number: 11238678Abstract: A method for generating data regarding a vehicle crash includes receiving initial sensor data, determining that the initial sensor data includes sensor data indicating a crash has occurred, receiving additional sensor data; and generating combined sensor data. A computing device for generating data regarding a vehicle crash includes a processor and a memory including instructions that when executed cause the processor to receive initial sensor data, determine that the initial sensor data includes sensor data indicating that a crash has occurred, receive additional sensor data; and generate combined sensor data. A computer readable storage medium includes non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon for generating data regarding a crash, wherein the instructions when executed cause a processor to receive initial sensor data; receive additional sensor data, determine that the initial sensor data includes sensor data indicating that a crash has occurred; and generate combined sensor data.Type: GrantFiled: October 13, 2020Date of Patent: February 1, 2022Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANYInventors: Eric Bellas, Shawn M. Call, Gregory D. Carter, Ronald R. Duehr, Jeffrey David Hevrin, Sara Elizabeth Collins
-
Publication number: 20220012780Abstract: The present embodiments relate to systems and methods for using a blockchain or shared ledger tracking a vehicle according to a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to estimate a vehicle Actual Cash Value (ACV). An ACV of a vehicle may be determined and broadcast in a transaction to the blockchain to update the shared ledger to reflect the ACV value. Alternatively, an ACV may be determined according to information regarding the vehicle already stored on the blockchain. As further changes are made to the status of the vehicle on the blockchain, these changes are searchable according to the vehicle's VIN, and thus revised ACV values of the vehicle may be calculated.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2018Publication date: January 13, 2022Inventors: William J. Leise, Douglas A. Graff, Stacie A. McCullough, Shawn M. Call, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Jacob J. Alt, Eric R. Moore, Vicki King
-
Patent number: 11217332Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed with respect to using a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain, for managing medical records. The medical records may be accessible by medical institutions such as hospitals, and may be controlled by the patient. The patient may, for example, decide which entities can access and/or edit the medical records.Type: GrantFiled: January 12, 2018Date of Patent: January 4, 2022Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANYInventors: Ronny S. Bryant, Stacie A. McCullough, Mitchell J. Hill, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric Bellas, Vicki King, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth
-
Patent number: 11216429Abstract: Methods and systems maintain a distributed ledger of transactions pertaining to a particular vehicle. The method may include (1) receiving, by one or more processors, vehicle data from one or more remote computing devices; (2) detecting, by the one or more processors, a vehicle-related event from analysis of the vehicle data; (3) identifying, by the one or more processors, a VIN of the vehicle when a vehicle-related event is detected; (4) generating, by the one or more processors, a transaction including (i) the vehicle's VIN, and (ii) describing the vehicle-related event; and (5) transmitting, by the one or more processors, to a server the transaction to facilitate maintaining a VIN-based distributed ledger for the particular vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: June 16, 2020Date of Patent: January 4, 2022Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANYInventors: William J. Leise, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Eric Bellas, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Vicki King
-
Patent number: 11182859Abstract: A method for identifying a primary vehicle associated with a user of a mobile device includes receiving an indication of a vehicle entry event from a mobile device and retrieving sensor data from the mobile device. The method further includes receiving an indication of a vehicle exit event from the mobile device, generating a trip log including portions of the sensor data, and storing the trip log in a trip database. A server, or other suitable computing device, then analyzes the trip log and a plurality of previously stored trip logs in the trip database to determine a primary vehicle corresponding to the user of the mobile device. The method may allow a computing device to assign gathered mobile device data to a specific household vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: December 4, 2013Date of Patent: November 23, 2021Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANYInventors: Nicholas U. Christopulos, Nicholas R. Baker, Eric Bellas, Benjamin F. Bowne
-
Publication number: 20210350469Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed with respect to using a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain, for managing vehicle sensor data utilized to develop collision profiles. These collision profiles may be helpful when analyzing a collision to determine conditions that preceded the collision, to determine fault, and/or to determine an extent of damage to one or more vehicles involved in the collision. The sensor data may be collected from any of a number of sensors configured to capture position, orientation, movement, acceleration, driver behavior, etc.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 12, 2018Publication date: November 11, 2021Inventors: Ronny S. Bryant, Stacie A. McCullough, Mitchell J. Hill, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric Bellas, Vicki King, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth
-
Publication number: 20210342828Abstract: Methods and systems for managing and/or processing a blockchain to maintain data security for confidential and/or personal data are provided. According to certain aspects, the disclosed data security techniques may enable access sharing functionality utilizing the blockchain. The data security techniques disclosed herein also enable the use of smart contracts to support compliance with anti-money laundering requirements. A node may receive a new account transaction that includes documents identifying an account holder. The node may compare the identity to a government list of identities. In some embodiments, the node may detect any discrepancies between the documents and modify the new account transaction. The new account transaction may be compiled into a block of the blockchain.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2018Publication date: November 4, 2021Inventors: Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Vicki King, Burton J. Floyd, David Turrentine, Steven T. Olson, Timothy Caleb Wells, Corin Rebekah Chapman, Edward W. Breitweiser, Robert Gomez, Shelia Cummings Smith
-
Publication number: 20210312405Abstract: The present embodiments relate to systems and methods for using a blockchain to record information related to the lifecycle of a vehicle associated with a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), or other vehicle identifier. For example, the VIN lifecycle process may be used to facilitate compliance when an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) conducts a recall. The systems and methods may include receiving a recall notice indicating a vehicle type has been recalled, and updating a VIN record for a vehicle matching the vehicle type to associate the VIN record with the recall notice. The systems and methods described herein may allow for using a blockchain which gives the option for private information, and permissioned participants in the blockchain. In particular, the systems and methods may allow for a distributed consensus amongst businesses, consumers, and authorities, as to the validity of information and transactions stored on the blockchain.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2018Publication date: October 7, 2021Inventors: William J. Leise, Douglas A. Graff, Stacie A. McCullough, Shawn M. Call, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Jacob J. Alt, Eric R. Moore, Vicki King
-
Publication number: 20210312543Abstract: The present embodiments relate to systems and methods for using a blockchain that tracks vehicle lifecycles by Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or other vehicle identifier to determine whether a vehicle is over or under financed. A mileage report and VIN is received and a transaction is broadcast to the blockchain tracking. An actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle is then determined using the mileage report and/or other information stored in the shared ledger including a loan payoff value, financing value, etc. regarding the vehicle and searchable according to VIN. It is then determined whether the vehicle is over-financed or under-financed by comparing to loan payoff value with the ACV.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2018Publication date: October 7, 2021Inventors: William J. Leise, Douglas A. Graff, Stacie A. McCullough, Shawn M. Call, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Jacob J. Alt, Eric R. Moore, Vicki King
-
Publication number: 20210287296Abstract: The present embodiments relate to systems and methods for using a blockchain to record information related to processes and services in the vehicle industry. The systems methods may include (1) receiving an indication that the insured has filed an insurance claim associated with an insurance policy covering an insured asset and an identifier associated with the insured; (2) transmitting the indication and the insured identifier to a plurality of nodes of a blockchain network; (3) accessing the loss history blockchain associated with the insured using the insured identifier as a key; (4) creating a new block including the indication of the insurance claim and/or the insured identifier; and/or (5) updating the loss history blockchain with the new block by forming a consensus on the new block with the plurality of nodes of the loss history blockchain to facilitate maintaining the loss history blockchain up-to-date.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2018Publication date: September 16, 2021Inventors: William J. Leise, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Eric Bellas, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Vicki King
-
Publication number: 20210279722Abstract: Methods and systems for managing and/or processing a blockchain to maintain data security for confidential and/or personal data are provided. According to certain aspects, the disclosed data security techniques may enable access sharing functionality utilizing the blockchain. For example, access sharing may be utilized to file documents with an agency. In some scenarios, the documents may be associated with unclaimed property. The documents may be associated with a smart contract. Accordingly, the document may be encrypted using a public key for the smart contract and compiled into a block of the blockchain. In response to a request to provide access to the document to a particular node, the private key for the smart contract may be encrypted using the public key for the particular node and compiled into a block of the blockchain.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2018Publication date: September 9, 2021Inventors: Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Vicki King, Burton J. Floyd, David Turrentine, Steven T. Olson, Timothy Caleb Wells, Corin Rebekah Chapman, Edward W. Breitweiser, Robert Gomez, Shelia Cummings Smith
-
Publication number: 20210279723Abstract: Methods and systems for processing a blockchain comprising a plurality of immutable insurance policy records corresponding to industry reports are provided. According to certain aspects, a transaction request indicating an industry report issued by an entity may be received at a first node. A block including a reporting record indicating the industry report may be added to a blockchain and transmitted to another node for validation. The first node may add the block to a copy of the blockchain, where the block may be identified by a hash value that references a previous block in the blockchain that includes at least one additional industry report.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2018Publication date: September 9, 2021Inventors: Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Vicki King, Burton J. Floyd, David Turrentine, Steven T. Olson, Timothy Caleb Wells, Corin Rebekah Chapman, Edward W. Breitweiser, Robert Gomez, Shelia Cummings Smith
-
Publication number: 20210279808Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed with respect to using a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain, for insurance record management systems. The distributed ledger may be utilized to look up information pertaining to a person's insurance. For example, when a driver is pulled over by law enforcement for speeding, the driver may wish to verify an insurance policy by granting a law enforcement official permission to view his or her insurance records stored on the distributed ledger. Advantageously, the distributed ledger could consequently eliminate the need to carry physical proof of insurance.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 12, 2018Publication date: September 9, 2021Inventors: Ronny S. Bryant, Stacie A. McCullough, Mitchell J. Hill, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric Bellas, Vicki King, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth
-
Publication number: 20210264000Abstract: The present methods and systems relate to using and accessing associate information for a company stored in a blockchain. The methods and systems include (1) receiving at least one associate request, the associate request having an associate request type, from at least one participant of the plurality of participants for information on an associate stored on the blockchain; (2) verifying the associate request based upon the associate request type; (3) verifying that, or otherwise determining whether or not, the associate information is stored on the blockchain; (4) when the associate information is stored on the blockchain, generating a transaction corresponding to the associate request type, or alternatively, when the associate information is not stored on the blockchain, generating a transaction involving the at least one associate request; and (5) transmitting the transaction to the plurality of participants, such as to facilitate maintaining a blockchain up-to-date.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2018Publication date: August 26, 2021Inventors: Jacob J. Alt, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Vicki King, Charles H. Roscow, Scott Shoop, Greg Hayes, Robert Alpine Jennings, Amber Nelson-Wolfe, Shyam Tummala
-
Publication number: 20210264527Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed with respect to using a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain, for managing smart home data. Various entities may edit and/or access the distributed ledger, such as a server (e.g., of the insurance provider), a mobile device (e.g., a tablet, smart phone, or laptop of the insured or of a vendor), a desktop computer (e.g., of the insured or of a vendor), a smart device in a home (e.g., a smart thermostat, a smart carbon monoxide detector, a smart camera or microphone, or any other smart device), a home controller that manages other smart devices, a drone that surveys the home (e.g., for roof or siding damage), etc.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 12, 2018Publication date: August 26, 2021Inventors: Ronny S. Bryant, Stacie A. McCullough, Mitchell J. Hill, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric Bellas, Vicki King, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth
-
Publication number: 20210264052Abstract: Methods and systems for managing and/or processing a blockchain to maintain data security for confidential and/or personal data are provided. According to certain aspects, the disclosed data security techniques may enable access sharing functionality utilizing the blockchain. For example, access sharing may be utilized to share access to audit data. The policy information may be associated with a smart contract. Accordingly, the audit data may be encrypted using a public key for the smart contract and compiled into a block of the blockchain. In response to a request to provide access to the audit data to a particular node, the private key for the smart contract may be encrypted using the public key for the particular node and compiled into a block of the blockchain.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2018Publication date: August 26, 2021Inventors: Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Vicki King, Burton J. Floyd, David Turrentine, Steven T. Olson, Timothy Caleb Wells, Corin Rebekah Chapman, Edward W. Breitweiser, Robert Gomez, Shelia Cummings Smith
-
Publication number: 20210264532Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for using a blockchain to maintain a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for a vehicle over the course of the vehicle lifecycle. For example, a computer-implemented method tracks a vehicle identifier on a blockchain maintained by a plurality of participants. The method may include (1) receiving, at a processor coupled with a network interface, a vehicle identifier notification from a participant; (2) accessing, at a memory coupled with a processor, the blockchain using the vehicle identifier notification; (3) updating, at the memory, a block stored at the memory using the vehicle identifier notification; and (4) transmitting, via the processor coupled with the network interface, the block to at least one other participant to facilitate maintaining the blockchain up-to-date.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2018Publication date: August 26, 2021Inventors: William J. Leise, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Eric Bellas, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Vicki King
-
Publication number: 20210264426Abstract: The present methods and systems relate to using and accessing data stored in a blockchain, and in particular, interacting with the blockchain and users via smart contracts, and protocols to maintain security, and reliability. The methods and systems deal with using and accessing asset information on a blockchain network. For example, the methods and systems may receive a request from a user for asset data stored on the blockchain, analyze the request to determine a type of request, access the asset data stored on the blockchain based upon the type of request and a set of request parameters, perform an action involving the asset data based upon the request, and communicate to the user that the action was performed involving the asset data.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2018Publication date: August 26, 2021Inventors: Jacob J. Alt, Eric Bellas, Jaime Skaggs, Shawn M. Call, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Vicki King, Charles H. Roscow, Scott Shoop, Greg Hayes, Robert Alpine Jennings, Amber Nelson-Wolfe, Shyam Tummala
-
Publication number: 20210264530Abstract: The present embodiments relate to systems and methods for using a blockchain to record information related to processes and services in the vehicle industry. The systems and methods may include (1) receiving an insurance claim from a first participant, the insurance claim indicating that an insured asset has suffered a loss or been involved with an insurance-related event causing damage to the insured asset; (2) accessing, at a memory, the loss history blockchain using the identifier; (3) updating, at the memory, a block stored at the memory to associate the insurance claim with the individual or insured asset; and/or (4) transmitting the block to at least one other participant to facilitate maintaining the loss history blockchain related to the individual or the insured asset up-to-date.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2018Publication date: August 26, 2021Inventors: William J. Leise, Jacob J. Alt, Jaime Skaggs, Eric Bellas, Shawn M. Call, Eric R. Moore, Melinda Teresa Magerkurth, Vicki King