Systems and methods for disseminating information
First Claim
1. A method for providing a central information dissemination service that makes information available to the public, comprising:
- registering electronic mail addresses at a central facility for different information disseminators that distribute promotional information;
storing, in a database at the central facility, the promotional information for each information disseminator in association with the electronic mail address of that information disseminator;
receiving an incoming electronic mail at the central facility, said incoming electronic mail addressed to one of the registered electronic mail addresses; and
creating in response to the incoming electronic mail, an outgoing electronic mail that is based on the promotional information associated with the registered electronic mail address of said incoming electronic mail.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A centralized information dissemination system automatically distributes information received from information disseminators to information requestors. Information disseminators may register with a central facility to obtain an information address and to submit materials that are to be associated with the information address. Information disseminators may publish the information address to inform the public of the availability of the information distribution system. An information requestor may send a message addressed to a published information address at the central facility to automatically receive information. The central facility may respond to the message by sending a reply message that includes materials submitted by an information disseminator. An information disseminator may register different information addresses for advertisements for the same product or service that are presented to users through different media so that the information disseminator may track advertisements across different media. Other features and enhancements are also described.
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Citations
177 Claims
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1. A method for providing a central information dissemination service that makes information available to the public, comprising:
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registering electronic mail addresses at a central facility for different information disseminators that distribute promotional information;
storing, in a database at the central facility, the promotional information for each information disseminator in association with the electronic mail address of that information disseminator;
receiving an incoming electronic mail at the central facility, said incoming electronic mail addressed to one of the registered electronic mail addresses; and
creating in response to the incoming electronic mail, an outgoing electronic mail that is based on the promotional information associated with the registered electronic mail address of said incoming electronic mail. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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39. A central information dissemination system that makes information available to the public, comprising:
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means for registering electronic mail addresses at a central facility for different information disseminators that distribute promotional information;
means for storing, in a database at the central facility, the promotional information for each information disseminator in association with the electronic mail address of that information disseminator;
means for receiving an incoming electronic mail at the central facility, said incoming electronic mail addressed to one of the registered electronic mail addresses; and
means for creating in response to the incoming electronic mail, an outgoing electronic mail that is based on the promotional information associated with the registered electronic mail address of said incoming electronic mail.
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77. A central information dissemination system that makes information available to the public, comprising a central facility at which an information dissemination software application has been implemented to configure the central facility to:
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register electronic mail addresses at for different information disseminators that distribute promotional information;
store, in a database at the central facility, the promotional information for each information disseminator in association with the electronic mail address of that information disseminator;
receive an incoming electronic mail, said incoming electronic mail addressed to one of the registered electronic mail addresses; and
create in response to the incoming electronic mail, an outgoing electronic mail that is based on the promotional information associated with the registered electronic mail address of said incoming electronic mail. - View Dependent Claims (78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111)
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- 112. The system of claim ill wherein the central facility is configured to use said electronic mail template to create said outgoing electronic mail.
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115. A method comprising:
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registering electronic mail addresses each of which has (1) a fixed portion, which serves as a global identifier for a central information dissemination service, and (2) a code portion, said code portion of each electronic mail address being associated with particular subject matter and associated with information related to that particular subject matter that one of a plurality of information disseminators is to disseminate;
publishing one of said code portions in connection with said particular subject matter with which that code portion is associated; and
disseminating, by said information disseminator service on behalf of said one of said plurality of information disseminators, said information associated with said published one of said code portions. - View Dependent Claims (116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123)
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124. A system comprising:
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means for registering electronic mail addresses each of which has (1) a fixed portion, which serves as a global identifier for a central information dissemination service, and (2) a code portion, said code portion of each electronic mail address being associated with particular subject matter and associated with information related to that particular subject matter that one of a plurality of information disseminators is to disseminate;
means for publishing one of said code portions in connection with said particular subject matter with which that code portion is associated; and
means for disseminating, by said information disseminator service on behalf of said one of said plurality of information disseminators, said information associated with said published one of said code portions. - View Dependent Claims (125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132)
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133. A system comprising:
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a central facility at which a software application has been implemented to configure the central facility to register electronic mail addresses each of which has (1) a fixed portion, which serves as a global identifier for a central information dissemination service, and (2) a code portion, said code portion of each electronic mail address being associated with particular subject matter and associated with information related to that particular subject matter that one of a plurality of information disseminators is to disseminate;
media for publishing one of said code portions in connection with said particular subject matter with which that code portion is associated; and
the central facility being further configured to disseminate on behalf of said one of said plurality of information disseminators, said information associated with said published one of said code portions. - View Dependent Claims (134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141)
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142. A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using a central facility to perform a method for providing a central information dissemination service that makes information available to the public, comprising:
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registering electronic mail addresses at a central facility for different information disseminators that distribute promotional information;
storing, in a database at the central facility, the promotional information for each information disseminator in association with the electronic mail address of that information disseminator;
receiving an incoming electronic mail at the central facility, said incoming electronic mail addressed to one of the registered electronic mail addresses; and
creating in response to the incoming electronic mail, an outgoing electronic mail that is based on the promotional information associated with the registered electronic mail address of said incoming electronic mail. - View Dependent Claims (143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177)
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Specification