US 5220501

I'll verify key bibliographic data and check for any current litigation posture for US 5,220,501.

Let me pull the actual claim set for this patent, since the supplied text is truncated before the claims.

Let me retrieve the full claim set and confirm any post-issuance proceedings.

US Patent 5,220,501 — Summary

Scope of this memo: I searched for the literal identifier 5220501 (i.e., US 5,220,501). No results for other patents were substituted. Where my tools returned secondary/indexed data rather than the primary USPTO record, I say so.

1. Bibliographic data

Continuation family (for context on claim scope): 07/975,334 (abandoned, CIP of 07/448,170) → 08/469,354 → US 5,870,724; 09/020,109 → US 6,202,054; 09/789,534 → US 7,076,458; 10/849,369 → US 7,693,790. Sources: the Google Patents record and the front page of US 7,076,458 (both retrieved 2026‑09‑24/26).

2. Abstract-level disclosure

The patent discloses a system and method for delivering retail banking services — principally home/office bill payment — to users through a low-cost, ATM-like dedicated terminal that connects to a standard dial-up telephone line. The terminal has a multi-line alphanumeric LCD (4 lines × 24 characters, sized so one standard data packet can define a screen), "soft" selection keys pointing to displayed lines, PRIOR/NEXT screen keys, HELP, CANCEL and a numeric keypad. Contact with a fault-tolerant central computer of a service provider is made over a dial-up line into a packet data network (X.25) via a PAD/gateway. The central computer then acts as a POS/ATM node on the conventional ATM interchange network, debiting the user's bank account in real time, and pays the designated payees electronically (ACH, point-to-point, remittance tape) or by paper check. Because the central computer communicates in standard ATM/POS formats, little or no software change is required at member banks, and payee/Regulation E data can be passed through so the bank produces a unified statement.

3. Plain-language overview of the claims

Independent claim 1 (system) — verified text (reproduced from an indexed full-text source):

"A system for conducting financial transactions using an ATM network of the type connected to at least one financial institution, said financial institution maintaining an account for a specific user, said system comprising; a central computer; at least one remote data terminal including user input means and an alpha-numeric display, said data terminal coupled to a dial-up telephone line, said remote data terminal including means for generating first data representing a payee, second data representing an amount, and third data representing an ATM network compatible personal identification number; telecommunication means including a first modem operatively coupled to said central computer and a second modem operatively coupled to said remote data terminal, said telecommunications means for communicating said first, second and third data from said remote data terminal to said central computer via said dial-up telephone line, said central computer further including means for generating a digital message responsive to said communicated first, second and third data and for applying said digital message including said ATM network compatible personal identification number to said ATM network so as to selectively effect debiting of said user account substantially in real-time response to user manipulation of said remote terminal input keys."

In plain terms, claim 1 covers the core architecture: a home terminal + dial-up line + central computer that speaks ATM-network protocol to debit the user's account at the user's own bank in essentially real time based on payee/amount/PIN data entered at the terminal.

Other independent claims. The specification's summary of the invention recites a long list of additional independent aspects framed as separate inventive features (e.g., two-level security combining a unique terminal "signature" transmitted at link establishment with a user-entered ATM PIN; a terminal serving as both data terminal and voice telephone sharing one keypad; a 96–120 character LCD matched to a 128-byte packet; encrypted PIN/financial data with DES or RSA and a seed-synchronized real-time clock; storing numerical data and transmitting from a memory buffer; a fault-tolerant central computer architecture linking asynchronous terminals through a gateway to a PAD/PDN, and to banks through an ATM interchange for bill payment, funds transfer, balance inquiry and activity statements; and targeted advertising that withholds user identity until the user requests disclosure).

⚠ Uncertainty flag on the balance of the claim set: the supplied full text is truncated before the claims, and the sources I could retrieve in the allotted time gave me claim 1 verbatim but not a verified, complete listing of every independent claim. One indexed source of the granted patent displays dependent claims in the 50s (e.g., a claim reciting encryption of the personal identification number "using DES"), which suggests the patent issued with on the order of 50+ claims, including independent method claims. I could not confirm the exact claim count or reproduce the other independent claims from a primary source, so I am not asserting their precise wording or numbering.

4. Litigation / CAFC posture

• No CAFC 2026 docket involving US 5,220,501 was found in my searches. The patent's recorded status is Expired – Lifetime with an anticipated expiration of 2010‑06‑15 (17 years from the 1993‑06‑15 issue date), which is consistent with there being no live 2026 Federal Circuit appeal on this patent.
• The Google Patents record carries a "Family has litigation" flag with a Darts‑IP global patent litigation link (family 23779277), indicating historical litigation at the family level. I could not verify the specific case names, courts, or outcomes, and I could not directly query PACER or the CAFC docket system. Treat the litigation history as unverified.
• One indexed PTAB record (CBM2016‑00069, concerning a different patent, US 7,856,375) contains prosecution/reexamination material in which the 5,220,501 specification is reproduced as cited text; that is a citation use of the '501 disclosure, not evidence of a reexamination of the '501 itself. I found no order or certificate indicating that US 5,220,501 was itself reexamined.

5. Bottom line

US 5,220,501, filed and priority-dated 8 December 1989 and issued 15 June 1993, is the foundational Online Resources "home banking over the ATM network" patent — the earliest family member of a chain that continues through US 5,870,724, 6,202,054, 7,076,458 and 7,693,790. Its central teaching is using the existing ATM/POS interchange as the settlement rail for remotely-entered bill payments, with a purpose-built, ATM-familiar terminal on a dial-up telephone line — a design whose dependent/independent claims also reach terminal hardware, keypad, encryption, and advertising features. The patent is expired, and I found no 2026 CAFC activity; any litigation statements should be treated as unverified pending a direct docket check.

Primary source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5220501/en (retrieved 2026‑09‑24).
Secondary (claim 1 text, indexed): SumoBrain full‑text record for US 5,220,501 (https://SumoBrain.com/patents/us/Method-system-remote-delivery-retail/5220501.html).
Continuation context: US 7,076,458 B2 front page (patentimages.storage.googleapis.com) and uspto.report record for grant 5220501.