Method and system for recording and transferring motor vehicle information

Abstract

An improved system and method for capturing and uploading pertinent information related to a motor vehicle that is accurate, simple to use, and may be implemented on a wide array of mobile devices in a cost-effective manner. Methods are also disclosed for users of the mobile devices to send identifying information to a database, where the identifying information is compared to other motor vehicle identifying information located the database.

1 . A method of analyzing information related to a motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
 using a handheld mobile device, obtaining image data of at least a portion of a motor vehicle;   obtaining a mobile device location;   receiving automobile information at the handheld mobile device, wherein the automobile information relates to attributes of the motor vehicle;   wherein the image data and the automobile information form a first set of identifying information;   displaying at the handheld mobile device a vehicle license plate data that has been extracted from the image data;   receiving confirmation that the vehicle license plate data is accurate;   comparing the first set of identifying information to a second set of identifying information concerning a plurality of vehicles of interest; and   displaying on a user interface one or more user instructions relating to the motor vehicle if there is a correlation between the first and second sets of identifying information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising utilizing a processor in the handheld mobile device to extract the license plate data. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising utilizing a processor that is located remotely from the handheld mobile device to extract the license plate data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the automobile information comprises license plate information input to the handheld mobile device by a user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the automobile information comprises motor vehicle make and model information. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user inputs the automobile information without capturing a photograph of the motor vehicle. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the automobile information is automatically received from an analysis of the image data. 
     
     
         8 . A system for analyzing information related to a motor vehicle, the system comprising:
 a handheld mobile device including:
 a camera for capturing an image data of a motor vehicle; 
 a location module for determining a location of the handheld mobile device; and 
 an input device to receive user input of automobile information about the motor vehicle; 
   a processor for processing the image data to extract image information;   the handheld mobile device further comprising a user confirmation engine for receiving user confirmation that the extracted image information is accurate, wherein the extracted image information and the automobile information together comprise a first set of identifying information;   a database comprising a second set of identifying information concerning a plurality of motor vehicles of interest;   a calculation engine for comparing. after the user confirmation engine has received user confirmation that the extracted image information is accurate, the first set of identifying information with the second set of identifying information and indicating correlation between the first set of identifying information and the second set of identifying information; and   a notification engine for displaying a notification if there is a correlation between the first set of identifying information and the second set of identifying information.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising a software program on the mobile device for capturing a photograph and receiving automobile information from a user. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the handheld mobile device comprises the processor. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the automobile information comprises motor vehicle make and model information. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising a communication link for establishing communication between the mobile device and a remote computer. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the remote computer comprises the database. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the automobile information comprises a vehicle identification number that is input by a user without the camera having captured image data of the motor vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the automobile information is automatically input from an analysis of the image data. 
     
     
         16 . A method of analyzing information related to a motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
 provide a database containing a first set of identifying information for a plurality of motor vehicles of interest;   receiving image data of at least a portion of a motor vehicle from a handheld mobile device;   receiving automobile information from the handheld mobile device, wherein the automobile information relates to attributes of the motor vehicle, wherein the image data together with the automobile information concerning the vehicle form a second set of identifying information;   comparing the first and second sets of identifying information to determine whether there is a correlation between the first and second sets of identifying information; and   sending a notification to the handheld mobile device if there is a correlation between the first and second sets of identifying information.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the handheld mobile device is a mobile phone. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising sending user instructions to the handheld mobile device regarding the automobile. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising extracting from the image data a license plate number data. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising receiving confirmation that the license plate number data is accurate.