Patents
US 12665896 B2: Electricity meter and system hardened against attack vectors
- Granted
- 2026-06-23
- Filed
- 2023-10-02 application 18375947
- Type
- Utility · 12 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
An electricity meter and electricity system or grid that is hardened against attack vectors is described, and provided in part by automated multiple-factor authentication over multiple communication networks. In an example, a utility company may control an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) network to provide internal communications. Metering devices may utilize customer's Wi-Fi to gain access to the internet, allowing electricity consumption data to be transmitted over the internet. Multiple authentication factors are used to prevent a bad actor from impersonating the metering device or cloud server. In an example, each metering device determines a secret, and sends the secret over the AMI network to a utility company server, and which relays the secret to the cloud server. The cloud server uses the secret to establish trust with metering devices. Additionally, the metering devices and the cloud server have signed certificates, which are used in additional authentication processes.
Source: PTBLXML, file of 2026-06-23 (ipgb20260623.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Itron, Inc. 476 patents | US company or organization | Liberty Lake, WA | ITRON, INC. Federal lobbying client EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state ITRON, INC. SEC filer EXACT medium confidence: identical full name, one of each nationally | PTBLXML, file of 2026-06-23 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timothy James Driscoll | Raleigh, NC | 15 | PTBLXML, file of 2026-06-23 | |
| Jeffrey Scott Bailey | Coeur dAlene, ID | PTBLXML, file of 2026-06-23 | ||
| Christopher Higgins | Wake Forest, NC | PTBLXML, file of 2026-06-23 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| H04L | Transmission of digital information, e.g. telegraphic communication | H04L63/0823 | PTBLXML, file of 2026-06-23 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-13 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | DRISCOLL, TIMOTHY JAMES signed 2023-10-02 BAILEY, JEFFREY SCOTT signed 2023-09-22 HIGGINS, CHRISTOPHER signed 2023-09-30 | ITRON, INC. LIBERTY LAKE, WA | 74647/645 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2025-09-15 | Security interest Security interest Security interest | ITRON, INC. signed 2025-09-12 | WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION CHARLOTTE, NC | 72870/873 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.