System and method for re-routing of e-mail messages

• US 20030005064A1
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Published: 01/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Validity, Inc. (Validity Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Graham D. Stead, Joseph G. Khalil, Mark E. Mcdowell
• Inventors: Stead, Graham D., McDowell, Mark E., Khalil, Joseph G.
• Granted Patent: US 6,892,222 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the re-routing of e-mail sent to a prior address (or an address that is non-working, or temporarily inconvenient) to the new address of an intended recipient. E-mail that is to be sent to a recipient is sent to the former Internet Service Provider (ISP). Because the recipient is no longer a subscriber to the old ISP, or because the address at the old ISP is temporarily inconvenient, the e-mail is re-routed to a re-route server of the present invention. The re-route server then causes the e-mail to be sent to the correct address through a variety of processes. Alternatively, new e-mail addresses are made available at the old ISP. The old ISP can then forward e-mail messages directly to the new ISP.

Claims

1. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

a recipient registering with a re-route server;

the re-route server sending a re-route request to an old ISP;

the old ISP receiving and processing the re-route request; and

the old ISP re-routing e-mail for the recipient to a new ISP after the receipt and processing of the re-route request.

2. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein:

the re-route server sending a re-route request to an old ISP further comprises the re-route server sending a new address for the recipient to the old ISP.

3. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the new address for the recipient comprises the address of the new ISP at which the recipient is located.

4. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the new address for the recipient comprises the address of the re-route server.

5. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, further comprising the old ISP maintaining a “

FROM”

account for the recipient;

inserting a “

.forward”

file comprising a “

to”

account comprising the new address for the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address when it is received at the old ISP.

6. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, further comprising the old ISP maintaining and aliasing a FROM account for the recipient with an alias entry comprising the new address for the recipient;

and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address when it is received at the old ISP.

7. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 6, wherein the alias entry is stored in a look up table.

8. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, further comprising the old ISP maintaining an X.500 database;

inserting a “

to”

account entry into the X.500 database comprising the new address of the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail to the new address when it is received at the old ISP.

9. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, further comprising

maintaining a DNS table to which the new address comprising a “

to”

account entry is written; and

forwarding e-mail to the new address when the DNS table is accessed.

10. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, further comprising:

writing a “

to”

account comprising the new address for the recipient to a private alias file;

passing e-mail for other recipients whose addresses are not in the private alias file to e-mail software of the ISP'"'"'s; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the “

to”

account for the recipient.

11. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the new address for the recipient is in Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) format;

and

further comprising forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address when it is received at the old ISP.

12. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, further comprising:

the re-route server generating a statistical record of the re-route request.

13. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 12, wherein the generated statistical record includes information regarding the old ISP and the new ISP.

14. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 12, wherein the generated statistical record includes information indicating customer churn.

15. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 12, wherein the generated statistical record is added to an aggregated register of from and to data for a plurality of users.

16. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the old ISP automatically forwards e-mail directed to an old address at the old ISP to the new address, consistent with Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

18. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 17, wherein the accessing and downloading occurs on a periodic basis.

19. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 17, wherein the request to re-route the recipient'"'"'s e-mail comprises the old address of the recipient at the old ISP and the new address to which the recipient wants the recipient'"'"'s e-mail forwarded.

17. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

a recipient, that formerly had an old e-mail address at an old ISP, registering a request to re-route the recipient'"'"'s e-mail with a re-route server;

the old ISP storing e-mail for the recipient;

the re-route server accessing and downloading the e-mail for the recipient stored at the old ISP; and

the re-route server forwarding the downloaded e-mail to a new address for the recipient.

20. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

a recipient registering a request to re-route the recipient'"'"'s e-mail with a re-route server;

the re-route server sending the re-route request to an old ISP;

the old ISP receiving and processing the re-route request;

the old ISP bouncing mail for the recipient to the re-route server when the recipient no longer has an e-mail address at the old ISP;

the re-route server receiving the bounced e-mail for the recipient; and

the re-route server forwarding the e-mail to a new address for the recipient.

21. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 20, wherein the request to re-route the recipient'"'"'s e-mail comprises an old address of the recipient at the old ISP and the new address to which the recipient wants the recipient'"'"'s e-mail forwarded.

22. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

a sender of e-mail addressing e-mail to a recipient, the e-mail address comprising a universal re-route symbol in the local part of the e-mail address;

if the recipient is not a subscriber of an old ISP, the old ISP checking if a universal re-route symbol is present in the local part of the e-mail address;

if a universal re-route symbol is present in the local part of the e-mail address, the old ISP forwarding the e-mail to a re-route server;

the re-route server receiving the forwarded e-mail and forwarding the forwarded e-mail to a new address associated with the recipient.

23. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 22, wherein the re-route server receiving the forwarded e-mail further comprises the re-route server checking if a universal re-route symbol is present in the local part of the e-mail address;

and

if the recipient is a registered re-route customer, forwarding the e-mail to the new address.

25. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 24, wherein the receiving and processing further comprises the re-route server checking if a re-route extension is present in the overall e-mail address;

and ceasing further processing if no re-route extension is present.

26. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 24, further comprising passing the e-mail through to the old address if the recipient is not a re-route customer.

28. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 27, wherein the sender computer query comprises a query under the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).

30. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 29, wherein the sender computer query comprises a query under the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).

24. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

a sender of e-mail addressing e-mail to a recipient, the overall e-mail address comprising an old address of the recipient at an old ISP and a re-route extension to the e-mail address designating a re-route server;

receiving and processing the e-mail at the re-route server;

the re-route server checking to determine if the recipient is a re-route customer;

forwarding the e-mail to a new address associated with the recipient if the recipient is a re-route customer.

27. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

a sending computer querying a re-route server for an e-mail address of a recipient;

the re-route server determining if an e-mail address for the recipient is available;

if an e-mail address for the recipient is available, the re-route server forwarding e-mail sent by the sending computer to the recipient at the e-mail address.

29. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

a sending computer querying a re-route server for an e-mail address of a recipient;

the re-route server determining if an e-mail address for the recipient is available;

if an e-mail address for the recipient is available, the re-route server providing that address to the sending computer; and

the sending computer re-addressing the e-mail to the recipient at the e-mail address.

31. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

an old ISP assigning its mail exchange authority to a re-route server;

the re-route server receiving e-mail addressed to subscribers at the old ISP;

the re-route server comparing the addresses of subscribers to a re-route customer list, the re-route customer list comprising new e-mail addresses for re-route customers;

the re-route server forwarding e-mail addressed to re-route customers to the new e-mail addresses; and

the re-route server passing the e-mail through to the old ISP if the subscriber is not a re-route customer.

32. A method for re-routing e-mail comprising:

addressing e-mail using the user portion and the fully qualified domain name portion of e-mail addresses;

creating a mail exchange re-route directory in a re-route server comprising an entry for a recipient'"'"'s new e-mail address mapped to an old e-mail address of the recipient;

periodically distributing the re-route directory to ISPs for forwarding e-mail from the old e-mail address of the recipient to the new e-mail address of the recipient.

33. A method for re-routing e-mail comprising:

addressing e-mail using both the user portion and the fully qualified domain name portion of e-mail addresses;

creating a mail exchange re-route directory in a re-route server comprising an entry for a recipient'"'"'s new e-mail address mapped to an old e-mail address of the recipient;

periodically distributing updates to the the re-route directory to ISPs for forwarding e-mail from the old e-mail address of the recipient to the new e-mail address of the recipient.

36. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the re-route server comprises a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

receiving an email re-route request from the recipient, and forwarding the re-route request to the old ISP; and

wherein the old ISP comprises an old ISP memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

receiving and processing the re-route request.

37. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein the re-route request received by the re-route server from the recipient comprises the new address of the recipient.

38. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein the re-route request forwarded to the old ISP comprise instructions for forwarding the e-mail of the recipient to the new address for the recipient at the new ISP.

39. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein the old ISP further comprises a “

FROM”

account for the recipient, and wherein the software instructions embodied in the old ISP memory further enable the old ISP to perform receiving and processing the re-route request by;

inserting a “

.forward”

file comprising a “

to”

account comprising the new address of the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address when it is received at the old ISP.

40. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein the old ISP further comprises a “

FROM”

account for the recipient, and wherein the software instructions embodied in the old ISP memory further enable the old ISP to perform receiving and processing the re-route request by;

aliasing the FROM account for the recipient with an alias entry comprising the new address for the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address when it is received at the old ISP.

41. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein the old ISP further comprises a “

FROM”

account for the recipient and an X.500 database in which the “

FROM”

account is stored, and wherein the software instructions embodied in the old ISP memory further enable the old ISP to perform receiving and processing the re-route request by;

inserting a “

to”

account entry into the X.500 database comprising the new address of the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail to the new address when it is received at the old ISP.

42. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, further comprising storage, in which a DNS table is stored, the DNS table comprising a “

to”

account comprising the new address of the recipient; and

wherein the software instructions embodied in the old ISP memory further enable the old ISP to perform;

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address.

43. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein an SMTP wrapper augments a message transport system of the old ISP;

and

wherein the software instructions embodied in the old ISP memory further enable the old ISP to perform;

creating a private alias file comprising a “

to”

account comprising the new address for the recipient;

passing e-mail for other recipients whose addresses are not in the private alias file to the message transport system of the old ISP; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the “

to”

account for the recipient.

44. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein the new address comprises an e-mail address in Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) format.

45. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein software instructions embodied in the old ISP memory further enable the old ISP to perform:

holding e-mail for the recipient for further action by the re-route server.

46. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 45, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enable the re-route server to perform:

storing the new address of the recipient;

periodically downloading from the old ISP stored e-mail for the recipient; and

forwarding the downloaded e-mail for the recipient to the new address stored in the re-route server.

47. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 36, wherein the software instructions embodied in the old ISP memory further enable the old ISP to perform:

bouncing e-mail that is addressed to a recipient that is no longer a subscriber to the old ISP.

48. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 47, wherein bouncing e-mail includes bouncing e-mail to both the sending computer and to the re-route server.

49. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 48, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enable the re-route server to perform:

checking to determine if the bounced e-mail is for a recipient who is registered with the re-route server; and

forwarding the bounced e-mail to the new address of the recipient if the recipient is registered with the re-route server.

50. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the e-mail sent by the sending computer further comprises a universal re-route symbol in the local part of the e-mail address thereby causing the old ISP to determine if the recipient is a current subscriber of the old ISP;

the old ISP comprising an old ISP memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the old ISP to perform;

forwarding the e-mail to the re-route server if the recipient is not a subscriber of the old ISP;

the re-route server comprising a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

detecting the presence of the universal re-route symbol;

determining if the recipient is a re-route subscriber; and

forwarding the e-mail to the new address if the recipient is a re-route subscriber.

51. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the e-mail sent by the sending computer comprises the old address of the recipient at the old ISP and a re-route extension designating the re-route server;

the server memory further embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

determining if the recipient is a re-route customer; and

forwarding the e-mail to the new address if the recipient is a re-route customer.

52. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the sending computer comprises a sending computer memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the sending computer to perform:

first querying the re-route server to determine if the new address is available for the recipient;

the re-route server comprising a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

providing the new address to the sending computer if the new address is available; and

wherein the software instructions embodied in the sending computer memory further enable the sending computer to perform;

forwarding the e-mail to the new address if the new address is available.

53. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 52, wherein the sending computer query is under the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).

54. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the sending computer comprises a sending computer memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the sending computer to perform:

first querying the re-route server to determine if the new address is available for the recipient;

the re-route server comprising a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

determining if the new address is available; and

forwarding the e-mail to the new address if the new address is available.

55. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 54, wherein the sending computer query is under the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).

56. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the re-route server further comprises Mail Exchange (MX) authority for the old ISP;

the re-route server comprising a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

receiving e-mail addressed to subscribers of the old ISP;

comparing the addresses of subscribers to the old ISP to a re-route customer list, the re-route customer list comprising new addresses for re-route customers; and

forwarding the e-mail to the new addresses if the e-mail is addressed to subscribers to the old ISP who are also subscribers to the re-route server.

57. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 56, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enable the re-route server to perform:

passing the e-mail through to the old ISP if the e-mail is not addressed to a re-route subscriber.

58. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the re-route server further comprises a mail exchange re-route directory further comprising an entry for the recipient'"'"'s new e-mail address mapped to the old e-mail address, each entry comprising a user portion and a fully qualified domain name portion;

the re-route server comprising a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

distributing the mail exchange directory to the old ISP, thereby allowing the old ISP to forward e-mail to the new address of the recipient.

59. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the re-route server comprises a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

sending a re-route add request message to the old ISP upon receiving a request from the recipient for re-route service.

60. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 59, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enables the re-route server to perform:

sending a message to the recipient confirming that the request for re-route service is accepted, in the event that a message is received from the old ISP indicating that the re-route add request message has been accepted.

61. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the re-route server comprises a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

sending a re-route delete request message to the old ISP, in the event that no re-route service extension authorization is indicated by the recipient.

62. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 61, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enables the re-route server to perform:

sending a message to the recipient indicating that re-route service is ended, in the event that a message is received from the old ISP indicating that the re-route delete request message has been accepted.

63. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 35, wherein the re-route server comprises a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

sending a re-route edit request message to the old ISP upon receiving a request from the recipient for updated re-route service.

64. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 63, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enables the re-route server to perform:

sending a message to the recipient confirming that the request for updated re-route service is accepted, in the event that a message is received from the old ISP indicating that the re-route edit request message has been accepted.

34. A method of re-routing e-mail comprising:

sending an e-mail message, via a sending computer, to an old address at an old ISP,

receiving, at the sending computer, a bounce message from the old ISP indicating that the old address is not valid,

prompting a user, at the sending computer, for a command to re-route the bounced e-mail message,

resending the bounced e-mail message, in the event the user issues the command to re-route, this time addressed to a re-route server,

the re-route server forwarding the resent e-mail message to the new address for the intended recipient, assuming that the intended recipient is a registered re-route customer.

35. A system for re-routing of e-mail comprising:

a sending computer for sending e-mail to a recipient;

a network connected to the sending computer;

an old ISP, connected to the network, at which the recipient formerly was a subscriber and at which the recipient had an old e-mail address;

a re-route server connected to the network for processing re-route requests and effecting the forwarding of e-mail to the recipient;

a new ISP, connected to the network, at which the recipient has a new e-mail address; and

a recipient computer for receiving e-mail addressed to the recipient at the new e-mail address.