Email manager
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- directing received emails into importance categories established by an email recipient; and
displaying the importance categories in an order of importance, wherein the order is assigned by the email recipient.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An email manager for an inbox directs emails to various categories based on importance assigned by an email recipient and provides a user interface for presenting emails to the recipient in groups prioritized by importance. In one implementation importance is based on the sending source and in one implementation importance is based on content.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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directing received emails into importance categories established by an email recipient; and
displaying the importance categories in an order of importance, wherein the order is assigned by the email recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method, comprising:
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establishing importance categories for receiving email;
assigning a display attribute to each of the importance categories; and
displaying received email using the assigned display attributes. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
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receiving an email;
assigning the email to an importance category based on at least one of a sender address or an email content; and
displaying the importance category within an email inbox, wherein the email assigned to the importance category is accessible from within the inbox. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. An email inbox, comprising:
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received emails arrangable according to an importance of a sender or an importance of a content for each email, wherein importance is assigned by an email recipient; and
importance categories for grouping the received email according to at least one of a sender or content, wherein the importance categories are displayed in an order of importance established by the email recipient. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A user interface, comprising:
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a hierarchical tree display, wherein each node on the tree represents an importance category established by an email recipient for email;
a selection device to designate a node on the tree; and
an email display area to identify emails associated with the designated node. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. An email manager, comprising:
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a category generator to create importance categories for email, wherein importance is selected by an email recipient;
a category prioritizer to assign a level of importance to each importance category;
an email sorter to assign each received email to an importance category; and
a user interface to display the importance categories according to importance and to allow selection of emails within importance categories. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. An email system, comprising:
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means for receiving email;
means for displaying received email grouped according to importance; and
means for establishing the importance based on at least one of email senders or an email content. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer readable medium containing instructions that are executable by a computer to perform actions, comprising:
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establishing importance categories for email senders or email content;
associating an incoming email with one of the importance categories;
displaying the importance categories; and
allowing access to the email via the associated importance category. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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Specification