ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM WITH FUNCTIONALITY TO INCLUDE BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC MESSAGES IN A COMMUNICATION
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of providing different versions of an e-mail message to different recipients, the method comprising:
- detecting a send event of an e-mail message composed by a sender on a sender computing device, said e-mail message being addressed to at least a first recipient and a second recipient, wherein the e-mail message includes a non-private message portion that is not private to any particular recipient, and includes a private message portion that is private to the first recipient;
securely transferring the e-mail message to a server system, and storing the e-mail message on the server system such that both the non-private and private message portions are stored in association with a common message identifier; and
providing restricted access to the e-mail message as stored on the server system such that the first and the second recipients have access to the non-private message portion, and such that the first recipient but not the second recipient has access to the private message portion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An e-mail system is disclosed that overcomes many deficiencies of, but is backward compatible with, existing e-mail systems. Embodiments of the system may include various features, including but not limited to: (1) secure transfer of e-mail messages, without the need for users to replace existing e-mail clients or to change e-mail addresses; (2) tracking of all actions performed in connection with an e-mail transmission; (3) the ability for a recipient to view information about an e-mail message, optionally including information about how other addressees have responded to it, before deciding whether to retrieve the e-mail message; (4) the aggregation of entire e-mail conversations into a single threaded view; (5) the ability to include both private and public messages in a single e-mail communication; (6) sender control over downstream actions performed in connection with an e-mail message; (7) flexible control over cryptographic methods used to encrypt emails messages for storage.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of providing different versions of an e-mail message to different recipients, the method comprising:
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detecting a send event of an e-mail message composed by a sender on a sender computing device, said e-mail message being addressed to at least a first recipient and a second recipient, wherein the e-mail message includes a non-private message portion that is not private to any particular recipient, and includes a private message portion that is private to the first recipient;
securely transferring the e-mail message to a server system, and storing the e-mail message on the server system such that both the non-private and private message portions are stored in association with a common message identifier; and
providing restricted access to the e-mail message as stored on the server system such that the first and the second recipients have access to the non-private message portion, and such that the first recipient but not the second recipient has access to the private message portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-implemented method of providing different versions of an e-mail message to different recipients, the method comprising:
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detecting that an e-mail message being composed by a user via an e-mail client program is addressed to at least a first recipient and a second recipient; and
in response to detecting that the e-mail message is addressed to the first second recipients, supplementing an e-mail message composition user interface of the e-mail client program to include a first private message entry area for entering a private message to the first recipient, and a second private message entry area for entering a private message to the second recipient. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification