"Remote Interface" Limitation In Patented Financial Account Application System Not Satisfied By A User´s Home PC

By William F. Long and Joshua D. Curry

Originally published May 27, 2008

A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently held that, in an automated account application processing patent, the claim limitation "remote interface" required a computer maintained by the account provider and was not satisfied by the end user's own personal computer. Decisioning.com, Inc. v. Federated Dept. Stores, Inc., Nos. 2007-1277, 2007-1278, 2007-1308, 2008 WL 1966704, at *1 (Fed. Cir. May 7, 2008).

U.S. Patent No. 6,105,007 ("the '007 Patent") claims a system for processing financial account applications (e.g., loan or credit card applications). The system allows an applicant to obtain new financial account approval within minutes by applying remotely and without human assistance.