DAYTON, Ohio –

Reynolds and Reynolds recently announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued two U.S. patents relating to docuPAD, the F&I selling and document processing system for dealerships.

Officials reiterated that docuPAD is a menu-driven, interactive F&I solution that can enable dealership personnel to engage consumers in the finance and insurance steps of a vehicle transaction and electronically manage and record the entire process, including electronic signature capture.

The company indicated other patent applications are pending. Reynolds is the exclusive marketing partner for docuPAD, a product developed by COINdata.

"We believe the technologies and ideas behind docuPAD are unique, and we continue to take the appropriate steps to protect both," said Mark Singleton, one of the co-inventors of docuPAD.

"We are gradually building a family of patents for docuPAD and continue to file and prosecute an extensive number of patent claims," Singleton continued.

While it is not uncommon for product innovation in dealerships to improve on existing technologies, Singleton said that docuPAD creates an entirely new category of product experience that is shared between consumers and dealership personnel.

"Occasionally, an innovation comes along that actually changes the user experience — an e-book reader or an iPhone," Singleton explained. "And docuPAD is that type of innovation. It changes for the better the consumer's experience in the dealership during a vehicle sale."

Among dealerships that use docuPAD, officials said, average scores for customer satisfaction in the F&I process increased substantially. They also noted product has been shown to improve dealership F&I operations, including compliance.