System for collection and distribution of calender information

• US 20030065742A1
• Filed: 09/28/2001
• Published: 04/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Lehmeier, Michelle R., Brown, Brian J., Breidenbach, Steven T., Webb, Steven L., Gennetten, K. Douglas, Rudd, Michael L., Culp, Jerlyn R., Albritton-McDonald, James C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,035,913 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

The present invention provides a system for obtaining and distributing calendar information from one or more calendar sources, as may be defined by a user, in a manner that allows for easy incorporation of the obtained calendar information into a personal or group calendar database. A collection and distribution unit is provided for obtaining calendar information from a predetermined calendar source. If necessary, the collection and distribution unit may convert the obtained calendar information into a predetermined format. Calendar data is distributed by the collection and distribution unit in accordance with preferences specified by a subscriber record.

Claims

1. A system for collecting calendar information from a predetermined calendar source and distributing calendar data to a subscriber, said system comprising:

network interface for connecting to a network;

a storage memory for storing a subscriber list;

controller configured to access a calendar of interest via said network interface and distribute said calendar data to said subscriber in accordance with said subscriber list.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said network comprises the Internet.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said network interface comprises a wireless interface.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said calendar of interest comprises a world wide web (WWW) site.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said world wide web site comprises a hyper-text mark-up language (HTML) compliant web site.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said controller accesses said calendar of interest and retrieves predetermined calendar information.

7. A system for collecting calendar information from a predetermined calendar source and distributing calendar data to a subscriber, said system comprising:

network interface for connecting to a network;

a storage memory for storing a subscriber list;

controller for accessing a calendar of interest via said network interface and distributing said calendar data to a subscriber via said network interface in accordance with said subscriber list.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said controller distributes said calendar data to the subscriber as an e-mail attachment.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein said subscriber list comprises data identifying the subscriber.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said subscriber list further comprises data identifying said calendar of interest.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said subscriber list further comprises data identifying a predetermined format for compiling said calendar data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said predetermined format comprises a Palm™

compliant vCard.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein said controller is further configured to carry out direct synchronization of calendar data.

14. A method of collecting and distributing calendar data to a subscriber comprising the steps of:

accessing a calendar of interest identified by a subscriber list;

retrieving calendar data from said calendar of interest;

converting said calendar data into converted calendar data of a predetermined format in accordance with said subscriber list;

transferring said converted calendar data to the subscriber via delivery options specified by said subscriber list.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said subscriber list further comprises data identifying the calendar of interest, a desired format for converting said calendar data and the method for delivery of said converted calendar data.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said step of converting comprises converting said calendar data to a Palm™

compliant vCard data.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein said step of converting comprises converting said calendar data to a Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) compliant e-mail attachment.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein said step of transferring said converted calendar data comprises transferring said converted calendar data to said subscriber via a network.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein said step of transferring said converted calendar data comprises transferring converted data to said subscriber via the Internet.