throbber
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE CO.
`
`Petitioner
`
`V.
`
`PROGRESSIVE CASUALTY INSURANCE CO.
`
`Patent Owner
`
`Case CBMZ012-00004 (JL)
`Patent 6,064,970
`
`Declaration of Michael J. Miller
`
`PI[-l266628v2
`
`Progressive Exhibit 2011
`
`Liberty Mutual V. Progressive
`CBM2012-00004
`
`

`

`Declaration of Michael J. Miller
`
`1, Michael J. Miller, hereby declare under penalty of perjury:
`
`Scope of Assignment
`
`1.
`
`I was retained by the law firm of Jones Day, on behalf of the Progressive
`
`Casualty Insurance Company (“Progressive”), to render opinions regarding the
`
`determination of vehicle insurance premiums.
`
`2.
`
`All of my statements and opinions herein are based on my training and
`
`education as an actuary, and on my forty-four years of work experience with the
`
`pricing, underwriting, and marketing of private passenger auto and commercial
`
`vehicle insurance. Unless noted otherwise, my statements and opinions reflect the
`
`understanding as of January 1996 of a person of ordinary skill in the art of pricing
`
`and underwriting of motor vehicle insurance.
`
`3.
`
`My retention agreement with Jones Day calls for me to be compensated
`
`at my normal rate of $450 per hour, plus out-of-pocket travel expenses.
`
`Qualifications
`
`4.
`
`I am the owner of EPIC Consulting, LLC and am currently the sole
`
`consulting actuary at EPIC. EPIC is an independent. consulting firm that provides
`
`consulting services to the insurance industry related to the pricing, marketing, and
`
`underwriting of property/casualty insurance.
`
`Pll-1266628v2
`
`

`

`5.
`
`I am a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (“CAS”), having first
`
`qualified for membership in the CAS in 1971. I have been elected to two terms on
`
`the CAS Board of Directors.
`
`1 have also served the CAS as Vice President for
`
`Research/DeveIOpment, as the Chair of the CAS Risk Classification Committee, and
`
`as the Chair of the CAS Committee on Principles of Ratemaking. As Chair of the
`
`Ratemaking Committee, I was the principal drafter of the Statement of Ratemaking
`
`Principles.
`
`6.
`
`In the past, I have served the Actuarial Standards Board as the Chair of
`
`the Property/ Casualty Operating Committee. In that capacity I was responsible for
`
`drafting several Actuarial Standards of Practice applicable to all prOperty/casualty
`
`lines of insurance.
`
`7.
`
`I began my actuarial career at State Farm Insurance in November 1967.
`
`My entire career at State Farm was in the Auto Actuarial Department where-I was
`
`directly involved in the determination of insurance premiums for both private
`
`passenger autos and commercial motor vehicles. My work at State Farm started as an
`
`actuary trainee, doing the arithmetical calculations necessary to determine auto
`
`insurance premiums. In approximately four years I was promoted to a position of
`
`manager where I was responsible for pricing State Farm’s auto insurance coverages
`
`in the eastern one-third of the United States and the five Canadian provinces in which
`
`State Farm operated.
`
`PII-1266628v2
`
`

`

`8.
`
`During the last four or five years of my State Farm career I was
`
`responsible for State Farm’s auto insurance rate filings throughout the United States
`
`and Canada. I was also a member of a management team responsible for the pricing,
`
`underwriting, marketing, and servicing of auto insurance.
`
`9.
`
`During my entire career at State Farm, I was directly involved in the
`
`design, implementation, and administration of private passenger auto and commercial
`
`vehicle insurance rating plans. My work involved those instances when State Farm
`
`introduced new risk characteristics into its auto insurance risk classification plans.
`
`10.
`
`I left State Farm in 1984 and became an actuarial and management
`
`consultant. As a consultant I have provided a wide variety of actuarial and
`
`management consulting services involving many different property and casualty lines
`
`of business. Over my 29-year career as a consultant, I estimate that the greatest
`
`emphasis of my practice has been related to personal auto and residential property
`
`insurance. At one time or the other, I have provided consulting services to most of
`
`the major insurers in the United States and to several state insurance regulators.
`
`1 1. During my career as a consultant I have been involved with the
`
`formation of a new insurance company that tested new and innovative risk
`
`characteristics and introduced new risk characteristics into its risk classification plan.
`
`I have also consulted many times with established insurers regarding significant
`
`revisions to their existing rating plans, including the use of new risk characteristics.
`
`PIl-1266628v2
`
`

`

`12.
`
`Exhibit 2015 is a copy of my curriculum vitae, which sets forth my
`
`experience, qualifications, and publications.
`
`Person of Ordinagy Skill in the Art
`
`13.
`
`I understand that the Board in this matter has stated that a person of
`
`ordinary skill in the field of determining vehicle insurance premiums as of 1996
`
`would have a BS. in mathematics (or equivalent degree); would have at least five
`
`years of actual work experience in the insurance industry determining premiums for
`
`auto insurance; and would be at least an Associate member of the CAS.
`
`1 will apply
`
`this level of skill in my analysis in this matter and will assume that this level of skill
`
`applies to a person of ordinary skill in the art (sometimes abbreviated below as
`
`“POSITA”).
`
`14.
`
`It is unlikely that a person of ordinary skill as of 1996 would have had
`
`the opportunity to obtain actual work experience introducing a new risk characteristic
`
`into a risk classification system. As of 1996, making improvements in the accuracy
`
`of assessing automobile risk, including the introduction of new risk characteristics for
`
`determining auto insurance premiums, was a slow and deliberate process throughout
`
`the auto insurance industry. The person of ordinary skill would not have had
`
`experience using or applying fuzzy logic to the determination of insurance premiums,
`
`but would have been relatively sophisticated in the use of multi-variant statistical
`
`Pll-1266628v2
`
`

`

`analysis of risk classification data. The person of ordinary skill in the art would not
`
`have had experience using telematics data to determine the cost of insurance.
`
`Materials Reviewed
`
`15.
`
`In preparing this Declaration, I have considered the following materials
`
`listed:
`
`a.
`
`b.
`
`c.
`
`d.
`
`e.
`
`The ‘970 patent (EX. 1001).
`
`Pettersen (Ex. 1005).
`
`Herrod (Ex. 1007).
`
`The Board’s Institution Decision (Paper 10).
`
`Other materials cited in this Declaration.
`
`Definition of Terms
`
`16.
`
`In the field of motor vehicle insurance as of 1996, a person or ordinary
`
`skill in the art would have understood that “actuarial class” had the same meaning as
`
`risk class. An actuarial class, or risk class, is a grouping of risks (i.e., insureds) with
`
`similar risk characteristics and expected insurance claims loss (or insurance costs). A
`
`person of ordinary skill in the art would have applied actuarial standards in creating
`
`and evaluating a risk characteristic’s eligibility to be the basis for the establishment of
`
`an actuarial class. Actuarial class claims data is used to determine. expected insurance
`
`claims loss. This definition is consistent with the definition in the Risk Classification
`
`PII-1266628v2
`
`

`

`Statement of Principles of the American Academy of Actuaries. A person of ordinary
`
`skill in the art in 1996 would have adhered to this Statement of Principles.
`
`17.
`
`A risk characteristic is a measurable or observable factor or
`
`characteristic that. has been found to be predictive of future insurance losses.
`
`18.
`
`The future insurance loss (i.e., risk of loss) being estimated is the
`
`product of the probability of an occurrence of an insured claim times the likely cost
`
`of the claim. Because the probability of an insurance claim occurring is a different
`
`value than the probability of an auto accident occurring, auto insurance rates are
`
`typiCally calculated based on the likelihood of claim occurrence, not the likelihood of
`
`accident occurrence.
`
`19. An actuarial class for a particular risk characteristic has a risk factor
`
`associated with the risk characteristic. A risk factor is a numerical value for that
`
`actuarial class and is used to calculate the expected loss for an insured. The
`
`numerical value is a ratio of the expected loss. of one actuarial class to another. The
`
`expected loss for an insured is sometimes called the “pure premium.”
`
`20. An actuarial class also has a rate factor associated with it. A rate factor
`
`is a numerical value for the actuarial class that is used to calculate the premiums for
`
`an insured.
`
`It relates to the difference in premiums charged to insureds. The rate
`
`factor reflects not only the differences in the expected losses (i.e., the risk factor), but
`
`Pll-1266628v2
`
`

`

`also the differences in expected expenses and all other components of the insurance
`
`rate.
`
`21. An insurance exposure base reflects the risk being insured and is the. unit
`
`of coverage upon which the insurance premium is calculated. For each of the private
`
`passenger auto insurance coverages, and most commercial vehicle insurance.
`
`coverages, the exposure base is per insured vehicle. Premiums for auto insurance are
`
`typically not calculated or quoted on a per person or per‘ driver basis.
`
`22.
`
`The “rated-driver” is the Specific driver among multiple drivers in the
`
`household, whose risk characteristics impact on the premium calculation for a
`
`specific insured auto.
`
`Background Regarding Determination of Auto Insurance Premiums
`
`23.
`
`Insurance is generally described as the transfer of risk of financial loss
`
`arising from the accidental events described in the insurance policy. In the case of
`
`auto insurance the risk being transferred to the insurer is generally described as the
`
`risk of a financial loss arising from the ownership and operation of the insured
`
`vehicle. The premium is calculated to reflect the total insured risk associated with the
`
`OWnership and operation of a vehicle that potentially has multiple operators.
`
`24.
`
`The insureds under a personal auto insurance policy are the named
`
`insured(s) listed on the policy’s declaration page, as well as all relatives resident in
`
`the household. The auto insurance policy is written so as to cover the risk associated
`
`PIl-1266628v2
`
`

`

`with the ownership and operation of a specific car, rather than written on a per
`
`insured-person basis.
`
`25.
`
`The insurance premium charged for the transfer of risk is determined so
`
`as to reasonably reflect both the degree of risk being transferred to the insurer and the
`
`expected operational expenses of the insurer. Generally speaking, the greater the risk
`
`being transferred, the higher the premium. Due to the influence of the expense
`
`provisions in the premium calculations, the total premium may not be directly
`
`proportional to the degree of risk.
`
`26. An insurance premium reflects more than the degree of risk being
`
`transferred. In addition to provisions for expected future claim costs and claim
`
`settlement expenses, an insurance premium also includes provisions for expected
`
`operational and administrative expenses, and the insurer’s cost of capital. The
`
`difference between any two insurance premiums will not be identical to the difference
`
`in the degree of risk being transferred because the premium must also include
`
`provisions for operating expenses and profit.
`
`27. Auto insurance rates and premiums are regulated in the United States on
`
`a state-by-state basis. While the rate regulatory laws do vary from state to state, there
`
`is much in common. Nearly all states require auto insurance rates to be adequate, not
`
`excessive, and not unfairly discriminatory. These. three rate standards are applied to
`
`PI[- ! 266628v2
`
`

`

`the total premium for each auto insurance coverage and are not applied separately to
`
`each component of the premium.
`
`28.
`
`Insurance rates and premiums are generally considered to be fairly
`
`discriminatory if, allowing for practical limitations, any premium differences
`
`reasonably reflect differences in expected losses and expenses. The burden is
`
`typically on the insurer to demonstrate to the regulator that its insurance rates are
`
`fairly discriminatory, and neither excessive nor inadequate.
`
`29. Demonstration that an insurer’s rates comply with the statutory rate
`
`standards typically involves consideration of past and prospective loss experience of
`
`the insurer, the experience of other rate filers, business judgment, and all other
`
`relevant information and data within and outside the state. Any claims data gathered
`
`by the insurer via its risk classification plan, when combined with the insurer’s
`
`expense data, can be important in convincing the insurance regulator that the
`
`insurance premiums in question are fairly discriminatory. However, there are
`
`instances when the premiums must be justified on some basis other than risk
`
`classification data because credible claims data by risk class are either not available,
`
`or an alternative approach is preferable.
`
`30.
`
`In the case of auto insurance, it is not an insured person that is being
`
`“assigned” to an actuarial class of similar risks. It is the premium charged, and any
`
`future claim losses, associated with the insured car that are coded to an actuarial class
`
`PIl-1266628v2
`
`1 0
`
`

`

`for each of the risk characteristics used in determining the premium for the insured
`
`car.
`
`31.
`
`For example, assume the premium for an insured car is determined based
`
`on only three risk characteristics: the rated-driver of the insured car is an adult driver,
`
`the coverage is subject to a $500 deductible, and the insured. is eligible for a claims-
`
`free discount. The insurer’s policyholder records for this insured car will reflect a
`
`separate code for each of the three risk characteristics (i.e., adult driver, $500
`
`deductible, and claims-free). When analyzing the difference in risk between adult
`
`drivers and youthful drivers, the premium and claims data of our hypothetical insured.
`
`car will be included with the adult risk class. When analyzing the difference in risk
`
`between a $500 deductible and a $250 deductible, the premium and claims data of
`
`our hypothetical insured car will be. included with the $500 deductible risk class.
`
`When analyzing the difference in risk between insureds that are claims-free and those
`
`that are not, the premium and claims data of our hypothetical insured car will be
`
`included with the claims—free risk class.
`
`32.
`
`The premium and loss data from each actuarial class are the basis for
`
`determining risk factors (and rate factors), which I mentioned above. The risk factors
`
`derived from the actuarial class data, in conjunction with an insurer’s operating
`
`expenses, become the basis for determining rate factors that are associated with each
`
`risk characteristic. An insurer’s base rate or base premium, after adjustment using all
`
`PlI-1266628v2
`
`1 1
`
`

`

`the rate factors applicable to a specific insured, results in the actual premium for each
`
`auto insurance coverage, for each specific insured auto.
`
`33.
`
`Returning again to our hypothetical example, assume the insurer utilizes
`
`a base rate, or base premium, of $400 which applies to an adult-rated auto with a
`
`$250 deductible and no claim-free credit. Further, assume the rate factor is .85 for a
`
`$500 deductible coverage and a rate factor of .90 is applied if the insured qualifies for
`
`a claim-free credit. Under this scenario the insurance premium will be $3 06 (i.e.,
`
`$400 base rate X 1.00 adult factor x .85 deductible factor x .90 claim-free credit).
`
`34. When selecting risk characteristics to use in a risk classification system,
`
`the POSITA would have adhered to certain actuarial standards. These standards
`
`include statistical considerations such as the homogeneity, credibility, and predictive
`
`reliability of the claims data that will be gathered for each actuarial class. There are
`
`also some operational standards for actuarial classes including: the practicality and
`
`cost effectiveness of administering the actuarial class; the degree of objectivity in
`
`defining the risk characteristic; and the inability of the insured to manipulate or
`
`misrepresent the risk characteristic. Exhibit 2012 is a copy of standards in effect as
`
`of 1996.
`
`35.
`
`I have read the Declaration of Mary L. O’Neil (BX. 101 1).
`
`I disagree
`
`with certain of her opinions expressed in paragraph 21 of her declaration. Ms. O’Neil
`
`states that “generat[ing] actuarial classes of insurance that group operators or vehicles
`
`PII-l266628v2
`
`12
`
`

`

`having a similar risk characteristic and bas[ing] insurance rates on these classes .
`
`.
`
`.
`
`is required in order to produce insurance rates that meet the statutory standard of not
`
`being unfairly discriminating,” citing the New York Guide (page 14). Ms. O’Neil is
`
`correct that New York regulations (and those in other states) require that vehicle
`
`insurance rates not be unfairly discriminatory, but they do not require that claims data
`
`generated by an actuarial class he used to avoid unfair discrimination in rates. Ms.
`
`O’Neil also states that “[t]his practice of generating actuarial classes arose out of the
`
`rating law standards adopted by most states beginning in 1946 based on the NAIC
`
`Model Law from 1946 .
`
`. .,” citing an article that I authored. This is incorrect. The.
`
`practice of generating actuarial classes predated 1946 by many years, and my article
`
`does not indicate otherwise.
`
`PlI-1266623v2
`
`1 3
`
`

`

`The Pettersen Reference
`
`3.6.
`
`Pettersen discloses an apparatus to monitor the operation of an auto with
`
`respect to the speed and acceleration/retardation of the car. I understand that
`
`distances driven are recorded for each of several speed intervals and for each of
`
`several acceleration/retardation categories. Pettersen speculates that the readings
`
`from the apparatus could be used by auto insurers to “set a more fair bonus
`
`arrangement”. Pettersen does not mention or disclose actuarial classes, nor does it
`
`discuss expected insurance losses.
`
`37.
`
`The speed and the acceleration/retardation data as described by Pettersen
`
`provide insufficient information to be of value for assessing auto insurance risk. For
`
`example, to be of some value for the determination of insurance premiums, the speed
`
`data would need to be relatable to the speed limit or some other standard that could be
`
`related to insurance risk at the time of operation.
`
`38.
`
`The data generated by the Pettersen monitoring apparatus cannot be used
`
`to create an actuarial class for determining insurance premiums because the data
`
`would not yield classes comprised of homogeneous risks. Two persons using the
`
`Pettersen device may have identical speed and acceleration/retardation data, yet have
`
`significantly different insurance risk. For example, driving 50 mph in a school zone
`
`would have a significantly different risk compared to driving 50 mph on the highway,
`
`but Pettersen does not treat these two differently".
`
`PIE-1266628v2
`
`14
`
`

`

`39.
`
`Pettersen originates from Europe. European insurance rate regulations
`
`generally do not apply prohibitions against unfairly discriminatory premiums, as that
`
`standard is defined in the United States. Accordingly, I do not infer that Pettersen’s
`
`mention of a “more fair bonus arrangement” refers to state regulations in the US.
`
`regarding fairly discriminatory premiums.
`
`1 also do not infer that it is referring to
`
`actuarial classes.
`
`The Herrod Reference
`
`40.
`
`The Herrod reference involves electronic equipment for measuring and
`
`recording certain driving behaviors of specific drivers. Certain acceleration data
`
`obtained from each operator’s driving behavior is apparently stored on a removable
`
`card or disk.
`
`41. Herrod states that the data pertaining to each operator’s driving habits
`
`could be used by “safe drivers” to “demonstrate their competence to insurance
`
`companies.” Neither this statement nor any other part of Herrod’s disclosure would
`
`have suggested to a POSITA that the data generated by the monitoring device of this
`
`patent application had any relevance to, or application in, the creation of actuarial
`
`classes or the use in the determination of auto insurance premiums. A POSITA
`
`would have had little or no interest in Herrod, since it was directed principally to the
`
`electronic equipment. A POSITA would have been aware that in 1996 insurance
`
`companies did not require drivers to demonstrate their “driving competence” and, as
`
`PlI-1266628v2
`
`1 5
`
`

`

`such, a POSITA would likely not have considered Herrod to have any meaningful
`
`application or value to the field of determining insurance premiums. At most, a
`
`POSITA may have understood that the reference in Herrod to a “demonstration of
`
`competence” meant that the data could have been used by an insurer to determine a
`
`driver’s eligibility to be offered insurance coverage. However, a POSITA would also.
`
`have recognized that Herrod’s data was not suitable for that purpose since, as
`
`explained below, the data is incomplete and unreliable for insurance purposes of
`
`determining insurance premiums.
`
`42.
`
`One reason why a person of ordinary skill in the art would not have
`
`understood that the data generated by Herrod’s monitoring equipment could be used
`
`to determine auto insurance premiums is that the data is driver-specific. In other
`
`words, the Herrod device separately records the acceleration data for a specific driver
`
`onto a card or disk. (Ex. 1007 at 000003 ._) However, a POSITA would have
`
`understood that to accurately determine an auto insurance premium, the risk
`
`characteristics of all drivers resident in the household are needed. These data are
`
`necessary so that the insurer can determine which of the operators in the household
`
`should be the “rated-driver” on each insured car in the household. Herrod does not
`
`disclose that all of the drivers in the household would have cards, and there is no
`
`suggestion that they would.
`
`PII~1266628v2
`
`1 6
`
`

`

`43. A POSITA would have understood that the “behavioral groups”
`
`disclosed in Herrod could not be actuarial classes. First, the Herrod behavioral
`
`groups data is incomplete and would fail the actuarial standard for homogeneity.
`
`Two persons using the Herrod device may have identical acceleration/retardation
`
`data, yet have significantly different insurance. risk (e.g. , one person driving in a
`
`congested urban area, another driving in a rural area). Because of this, a POSITA
`
`would understand that two drivers could be slotted in the same behavioral group by
`
`Herrod even though they would likely represent significantly different degrees of
`
`insurance risk (i.e., risk of loss). As such, the Herrod data would have been of no use
`
`to a POSITA in the establishment of new actuarial classes.
`
`44.
`
`The actuarial standards-provide for homogeneity in actuarial class data:
`
`l.
`
`Homogeneity
`
`The expected costs for each of the. individual risks in a class
`
`should be reasonably similar. In a given class, there should be no
`
`clearly identifiable subclasses with significantly different potential
`
`for losses. Significantly dissimilar risks should be assigned to
`
`different classes.
`
`The concept of homogeneity is based upon expected costs as
`
`viewed when the risk is originally classified. It does not suggest
`
`the system can or should precisely anticipate the subsequent actual
`
`claim experience of a given insured risk. The occurrence, timing
`
`and magnitude of an unforeseen event for a specific risk cannot be
`
`predicted in advance. Thus, it is inevitable that not all risks in a
`
`PII-1266628v2
`
`17
`
`

`

`class will have identical actuarial claim experience. Instead, the
`
`individual risks’ claim experience will be statistically distributed
`
`around the average experience for the class. The concept of
`
`homogeneity in no way is comprised by this inevitable outcome.
`
`By the same token, differences in expected costs between classes
`
`do not preclude the actual claim experience of risks in one class
`
`from being the same as the actual claim experience of risks in
`
`another class. This overlap phenomenon is both an anticipated
`
`and, indeed, statistically inevitable ramification of any sound "risk
`
`classification system.
`
`45.
`
`Further, a POSITA would have recognized that there was no way to
`
`determine whether the acceleration data associated with a particular Herrod
`
`behavioral group was actually representative of similar risk characteristics because
`
`Herrod discloses no reliable means for collecting the data needed to make that
`
`determination. Rather, Herrod discloses the use of “accident statistics .
`
`.
`
`. obtained
`
`from a national survey of drivers using the device” for this purpose. (Ex. 1007 at
`
`000002.) In determining actuarial classes and auto insurance premiums, it is claims
`
`data that are used, not accident statistics. It is my opinion that data “obtained from a
`
`national survey of drivers using the device” would be unreliable .for purposes of
`
`establishing an actuarial class, such that no POSITA would have created an actuarial
`
`class that depended on survey data. There would be no way for the insurer to identify
`
`all the drivers using the Herrod equipment. And even if there were a way to identify
`
`a population of drivers to survey, a POSITA would have no confidence in the
`
`Pll-1266628v2
`
`1 8
`
`

`

`accuraCy of the survey results, since it is likely that those with recent accidents would
`
`be under-represented in the people who responded.
`
`Date: May II 2013-
`
`Signature:
`
`I'll-1 EMESVE
`
`l9
`
`

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket