Fee-based message delivery system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for conducting fee-based email messaging comprising:
- establishing by a prospective recipient of an email message a price for transmission of said email message;
collecting a non-zero fee equal to said established price from a sender of said email message; and
transmitting said email message to said recipient.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and method for fee-based messaging over a global communication network. A method is disclosed wherein a prospective recipient of messages establishes prices for a variety of services and for various tiers of senders. Generally, all messages to a recipient pass to a service provider which informs the sender of the price for a set of possible services, one example of which is the reading of an email text message. The sender then generally pays the price corresponding to the service requested, and the message is transmitted to the recipient.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. A method for conducting fee-based email messaging comprising:
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establishing by a prospective recipient of an email message a price for transmission of said email message;
collecting a non-zero fee equal to said established price from a sender of said email message; and
transmitting said email message to said recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for conducting fee-based email messaging, said method comprising:
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establishing a plurality of tiers of senders of email messages to a recipient, each said tier corresponding to a different category of senders; and
determining a price for email message transmission to said recipient for each said established tier of senders;
determining the recipient of an email message;
determining the tier of the sender of said email message to said recipient; and
charging said sender said price corresponding to said tier for an email message sent by said sender to said recipient. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for conducting fee-based messaging comprising:
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establishing, for each of a plurality of recipients, a plurality of tiers of senders of messages to said recipient; and
determining a price for message transmission to said recipient for each said established tier of senders;
determining said recipient;
determining the tier of a sender of a message to said recipient; and
charging said sender said price corresponding to said tier for a message sent by said sender to said recipient.
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25. A method for conducting fee-based messaging comprising:
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presenting a sender with a price for transmission of a message to a recipient;
transmitting said message only if said sender pays said presented price; and
guaranteeing a transmission by said recipient of a responsive message to said sender within a defined time period. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for conducting fee-based messaging comprising:
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presenting a sender with a price for a transmission of a message to a recipient;
collecting a fee from said sender corresponding to said presented price;
transmitting said message to said recipient; and
refunding said collected fee if said transmitted message is not read by said recipient within a defined time period. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for conducting fee-based messaging comprising:
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establishing a price for a transmission of a message based upon an identity of a prospective recipient of said message;
presenting a sender with said established price for said transmission of said message; and
transmitting said message only if said sender pays said presented established price. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having a computer program logic recorded thereon for conducting fee-based messaging, the computer program product comprising:
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code for receiving an identity of a recipient from a sender;
code for determining a price for transmission of a message to said recipient based on said received identity;
code for collecting said determined price from said sender; and
code for transmitting said message to said recipient. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. Apparatus for conducting fee-based messaging, comprising:
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a global network;
a plurality of user sites, each said user site including communication equipment suitable for communicating data over said global network by both senders and recipients;
a plurality of communication links coupling said plurality of user sites to said global network; and
a service provider system coupled to said global network, said service provider system including a computer system and a database of communication recipients, and being configured to identify a price, determined by each said recipient, to be charged to a sender for contacting each said communication recipient. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A method for authenticating the identity of a sender of a message to a recipient over a network, the method comprising:
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combining an identification of said sender and an identification of said recipient into a single combined identification;
encrypting said combined identification; and
transmitting a message including said encrypted combined identification. - View Dependent Claims (71)
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72. A method for communicating over a network, the method comprising:
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composing a message, by a sender, for communication to a recipient in a fee-based messaging system;
including an encrypted message within said composed message thereby creating a flagged message, said included encrypted message indicating a right to cost-free transmission of said flagged message through said fee-based messaging system; and
transmitting said flagged message without charge to said recipient.
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73. A method for controlling access to a recipient, the method comprising:
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establishing a plurality of tiers of communication with a recipient by a sender;
determining a separate access code for each said tier, thereby establishing a plurality of access codes; and
providing a selected access code, of said plurality of access codes to said sender, corresponding to a particular tier of said tiers. - View Dependent Claims (74)
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Specification