E-MAIL ADDRESS INSPECTION

• US 20070288578A1
• Filed: 06/27/2006
• Published: 12/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Pantalone, Brett Anthony
• Granted Patent: US 7,836,134 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

A method for e-mail address inspection may include providing a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received. The method may also include checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses. The method may further include presenting a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

Claims

1. A method for e-mail address inspection, comprising:

providing a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received;

checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses; and

presenting a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a flag in response to the user selecting the address from the list of suggested or predicted addresses.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising saving the partial e-mail address and the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches is performed in response to the flag being set, and wherein the method further comprises sending the e-mail in response to the flag not being set.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches comprises using an algorithm to identify similar addresses.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches comprises evaluating a difference or distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches comprises determining one of a Hamming distance and a Levenshtein distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising checking a domain of the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to at least one other match being detected.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining whether the selected address is an address in a predetermined domain in response to at least one other match being detected.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising sending the e-mail in response to one of no other matches being detected or the selected address being an address in the predetermined domain.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the e-mail in response to the user selecting to send the e-mail; and

permitting the address to be edited in response to the user selecting to edit the address.

12. A communications device, comprising:

an e-mail module to provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received and to check the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses; and

a user interface to present a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

13. The communications device of claim 12, further comprising a component to set a flag in response to the user selecting the address from the list of the suggested or predicted addresses.

14. The communications device of claim 13, further comprising a memory to save the partial e-mail address and the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses.

15. The communications device of claim 12, further comprising an algorithm to identify addresses similar to the partial e-mail address.

16. The communications device of claim 12, wherein the e-mail module further comprises a component to evaluate a difference or distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

17. The communications device of claim 12, wherein the e-mail module further comprises a component to determine one of a Hamming distance and a Levenshtein distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

18. The communications device of claim 12, wherein the e-mail module further comprises a component to check a domain of the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to at least one other match being detected.

19. The communications device of claim 12, further comprising a network interface to send the e-mail to a network in response to one of no other matches being detected or the selected address being an address in the predetermined domain.

20. A system, comprising:

a network for sending and receiving e-mails; and

an e-mail module to provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received and to check the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising a component to set a flag in response to the user selecting the address from the list of suggested or predicted addresses.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising an algorithm to identify similarities between the partial e-mail address and addresses in the electronic address book or other selected domain.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising a component to evaluate a difference or distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book or other selected domain.

24. A computer program product for e-mail address inspection, the computer program product comprising:

a computer useable medium having computer useable program code embodied therein, the computer useable medium comprising;

computer useable program code configured to provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received and to check the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses; and

computer useable program code configured to present a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, further comprising computer useable program code configured to set a flag in response to the user selecting the address from the list of the suggested or predicted address.

26. The computer program product of claim 24, further comprising computer useable program code configured to identify similarities between the partial e-mail address and addresses in the electronic address book.

27. The computer program product of claim 24, further comprising computer useable program code configured to evaluate a difference or distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

28. The computer program product of claim 24, further comprising computer useable program code configured to send the e-mail in response to one of no other matches being detected or the selected address being an address in the predetermined domain.