Invalidity dossier
US 5247575
Information distribution system
Current assignee: WAVE SYSTEMS CORP (GRANTEE)
Added 9/23/2026, 7:29:45 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US 5,247,575 A — "Information Distribution System"
Title: Information distribution system
Patent number: US 5,247,575 A
Application number: US07/874,991
Inventors: Peter J. Sprague; Thomas H. Lipscomb
Original assignee: Individual (record lists "Individual" as original assignee; later reassignments name Wave Systems Corp. and Sprague, Peter J.)
Priority date: 1988-08-16
Filing date: 1992-04-24
Grant/publication date: 1993-09-21
Legal status (as listed): Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 2010-09-21)
Purpose (from the text): The invention relates to providing information services to multiple users—specifically distributing information to users in the field and financially accounting for information distributed to, selected, and received by each user. It addresses a "protected archival databank" at the user site enabling rapid selection and retrieval, broadcast of an alphanumeric character stream of up-to-date information, and "seamless" delivery combining archival data with periodic updates (broadcast or via storage media). It also covers controlling and monitoring access by multiple users.
Plain-language scope: A first protected storage device (e.g., CD-ROM, hard disk, tape, optical read/write memory) holds archival and update information arranged as retrievable "information packages" (IPs), each with a header (identification, length, use fee). A second storage device (e.g., RAM or hard disk) acts as a monitored "conduit." A programmed microcomputer selects/retrieves information from the first device, transfers it to the second, and accumulates use fees so the user is charged for what is received and used. Fees may be per-IP, standard, class-dependent, or length-dependent; subscription fees may offset charges. Account identification may be entered (e.g., via keypad) and stored with transferred IP identity. Output may go to a printer, SCSI bus, LAN, telephone line, or another storage device. Protected data is billed upon decryption.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5247575/en
What this excerpt does not establish: It provides no claim text, no prior-art references, and no complete description or figures. It does not establish claim scope, validity, enforceability, litigation history, or the accuracy of assignee/legal-status listings; the excerpt is expressly partial ("[Excerpt only; consult the source for omitted text.]").
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:42:01 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.
Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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