Patents for Sale? State Farm Reveals Website of Inventions
State Farm announced that it has launched a new website to showcase some of its patented technology, and making it available for licensing, purchase or collaboration opportunities.
“State Farm is more than just an insurance company. With a focus on innovation and technology, employees are encouraged to think big when it comes to how the company can meet customers in new and different ways,” State Farm said in a media statement announcing the website.
“Employees across the organization contribute to our growing patent portfolio,” the company said, in the statement, explaining where the collection of inventions originated.
According to the media statement, patents in the State Farm portfolio fall in several categories, including:
- Artificial Intelligence Software
- Autonomous & Electric Vehicles
- Blockchain
- Auto Telematics
- Smart Home Technology
“As one of the most innovative companies in our industry, at State Farm we pride ourselves on creating the most advanced, leading-edge technologies to help keep our policyholders safe,” said Haden Kirkpatrick, Vice President-Innovation & Venture Capital. “We’re excited to launch our patent website to extend our Intellectual Property assets and help offer these advanced technologies to firms which share our mission of helping more people in more ways.”
“As we look to the future, we see the opportunity to predict and prevent losses, keeping our policyholders and fellow citizens safer and better protected than ever before,” he said in the media statement.
Describing how State Farm’s predict and prevent vision is being realized through the use of smart home technology, Kirkpatrick co-authored the Carrier Management article, “The State Farm Vision: Ecosystem Capabilities for the Insurer of the Future,” with Matteo Carbone, director of the IoT Insurance Observatory, late last year.
On the IP website unveiled this week, State Farm lists four representative inventions under the smart home category, including one to detect malfunctioning sensors and another that mitigates smoke damage due to wildfire by deactivating the air circulation function of a home’s HVAC system when an alert is received indicating smoke movement toward a home.
Examples of patents listed under other categories include:
- An AI/ML patent referred to as “Method of Controlling for Undesired Factors in Machine Learning Models”
- A patent titled, “System and Method of Facilitating Driving Behavior Modification Through Driving Challenges,” listed under Vehicle Telematics.
- Several inventions related to unmanned aerial vehicles in the “Miscellaneous” category.
The first representative invention in the “Miscellaneous” category is titled, “Adjustable Virtual Scenario-Based Training Environment,” described as navigable virtual property generated for a training exercise.
The website notes that the patent portfolio is being offered in conjunction with State Farm’s subsidiary, Quanata.
“Quanata is a separate technology company in the State Farm family of companies, focused on powering the global insurance industry with context-based risk prediction and mitigation solutions,” the State Farm website says.
The Quanata website highlights the tech company’s global innovation team. “We’re a world class team of tech-minded professionals from the best companies in Silicon Valley. From data scientists and actuaries to engineers, designers and marketers, we’re creating the insurance products and experiences of the future,” the Quanata website says.
Source: State Farm