ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,356,291, issued on July 8, was assigned to QUANATA LLC (San Francisco).

"Automated tracking of vehicle operation and synchronized media delivery" was invented by Joel Peterson (San Francisco).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The described methods and systems decrease instances of distracted driving, encourage more frequent use of vehicle tracking services, and generally improve the risk profile of a driver and vehicle. These benefits are achieved by way of a vehicle computer system that incentivizes users to place mobile devices in a do-not-disturb (DND) mode and to activate vehicle tracking services. The vehicle computer system encourages t...