DAYTON, Ohio — The Reynolds and Reynolds Co. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued two U.S. patents for its docuPAD, which is an F&I selling and document processing system for automotive dealerships. Company officials said other patent applications are pending.

Reynolds and Reynolds is the exclusive marketing partner for docuPAD, a product developed by COINdata. The menu-driven, interactive F&I solution enables dealership personnel to engage consumers in the F&I selling process, and manage and record the entire process, including electronic signature capture.

"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."

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

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

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

The system was issued U.S. patents numbers 8,194,045 and 8,228,299. Future patents are expected, officials said.