Electronic mail system having a recipient field modifier function
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of sending an e-mail message, comprising the steps of:
- identifying a recipient having a type of recipient field label associated therewith, the type of recipient field label indicating that the recipient will receive the e-mail as an addressee or will receive a carbon copy of the e-mail;
determining whether the recipient field label associated with the recipient should be modified to a different type of recipient field label;
providing a function to modify the type of recipient field label associated with a recipient, the function generating a selectable list of types of recipient field labels and operating to modify the recipient field label associated with a selected recipient to the type selected from the list;
selecting a recipient having a type of recipient field label associated therewith that has been determined should be modified; and
, executing the function to modify the type of recipient field label associated with the selected recipient by selecting a type of recipient field label from the selectable list.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system and graphic user interface for modifying a recipient field label associated with a recipient of an e-mail message are disclosed. A recipient field label modifier function is provided that operates to modify the recipient field label associated with a selected recipient. An object associated with the modifier function is provided on a screen including a list of e-mail recipients. Selection of the object associated with the modifier function causes objects to be displayed for modifying the recipient field label associated with a selected recipient to any available type of recipient field label.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of sending an e-mail message, comprising the steps of:
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identifying a recipient having a type of recipient field label associated therewith, the type of recipient field label indicating that the recipient will receive the e-mail as an addressee or will receive a carbon copy of the e-mail;
determining whether the recipient field label associated with the recipient should be modified to a different type of recipient field label;
providing a function to modify the type of recipient field label associated with a recipient, the function generating a selectable list of types of recipient field labels and operating to modify the recipient field label associated with a selected recipient to the type selected from the list;
selecting a recipient having a type of recipient field label associated therewith that has been determined should be modified; and
,executing the function to modify the type of recipient field label associated with the selected recipient by selecting a type of recipient field label from the selectable list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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- 8. The method of claim 8 wherein the addressee object, carbon copy object and blind carbon copy object are each mutually exclusive so that selection of one of the objects deselects all of the other objects.
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10. A graphic user interface, comprising:
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a function for composing an e-mail message with at least one recipient associated with a type of recipient field label selected from available types of recipient field labels, the available types of recipient field labels including an addressee recipient field label and a carbon copy recipient field label;
a function for selecting a recipient to designate as a selected recipient;
a function for modifying the type of recipient field label associated with the selected recipient; and
,a function for sending the e-mail message to the each recipient in accordance with the recipient field label associated with the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (11, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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12. The graphic user interface of claim 111 and further comprising a first screen containing a distribution list operated upon by the function for composing an e-mail message to provide a list of recipients of the e-mail message and indicia of the recipient field label associated with each listed recipient and permitting selection of a listed recipient and a modification object associated with the distribution list and configured to call the function for modifying the type of recipient field label associated with a selected recipient when selected.
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17. A system that sends an electronic mail message to e-mail recipients each of which has a type of recipient field label associated therewith in accordance with the type of recipient field label associated with each of the plurality of e-mail recipients, the system comprising:
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a processing circuit that associates a recipient field label with each e-mail recipient, the recipient field label corresponding to a recipient field selected from the group of recipient fields including an addressee recipient field, a carbon copy recipient field and a blind carbon copy recipient field;
a display manager that displays a first graphical user interface screen including a list of e-mail recipients and the recipient field label associated with each e-mail recipient and an option that allows a user to modify the recipient field label associated with a selected e-mail recipient displayed in the list; and
a communication manager that sends the e-mail message to each e-mail recipient in accordance with the recipient'"'"'s associated recipient field label;
wherein the display manager displays a second graphical user interface upon selection of a recipient from the list of e-mail recipients and selection of the option, the second graphical user interface screen comprising;
a selectable object associated with a function that modifies the recipient field label associated with the selected recipient to the addressee recipient field;
a selectable object associated with a function that modifies the recipient field label associated with the selected recipient to the carbon copy recipient field; and
a selectable object associated with a function that modifies the recipient field label associated with the selected recipient to the blind carbon copy recipient field. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification