SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SORTING E-MAIL

• US 20080120379A1
• Filed: 10/30/2006
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dale W. Malik
• Original Assignee: Dale W. Malik
• Inventors: Malik, Dale W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,580,984 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system for intelligently sorting e-mail comprises a client which downloads e-mails from a server. Prior to presenting the e-mails to the user, the client sorts the e-mail into classifications based upon whether the e-mail is from a personal contact, i.e. someone that that the user knows, whether the e-mail is from a commercial vendor from whom the user has indicated that he or she wishes to accept commercial e-mail, or whether the e-mail is from an unknown source. The client presents the e-mails to the user in these classifications.

Claims

1. A method of sorting e-mail, comprising:

receiving an e-mail from an e-mail source;

identifying whether the e-mail has a vendor registration code for identifying a vendor from whom the e-mail was forwarded;

identifying whether the e-mail has a vendor registration purpose code for identifying the purpose of the e-mail wherein the vendor registration purpose code includes one or more classes of purposes related to the e-mail;

if the e-mail has a vendor registration code that was previously assigned to the e-mail source and the e-mail has a vendor registration purpose code that was previously assigned by a recipient to the e-mail source, presenting the e-mail with other e-mails having vendor registration codes; and

if the e-mail does not have a vendor registration code that was previously assigned to the e-mail source or the e-mail does not have a vendor registration purpose code that was previously assigned by the recipient to the e-mail source sending a message to the e-mail source.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of presenting the e-mail with other e-mails having vendor registration codes further comprises presenting the e-mail with other e-mails having the same vendor registration code and vendor registration purpose code.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying whether the e-mail has a registration code further comprises identifying the username from which the email was forwarded and the source from which the e-mail was forwarded.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising

identifying whether the username and source identify a valid contact;

and

if the username and source identify a valid contact, presenting the e-mail with other e-mails having a username and source identifying a valid contact.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

identifying a source category corresponding to the source identified for the e-mail; and

presenting the e-mail along with others that were received from the source category.

2-26. -26. (canceled)

31. A system for sorting e-mails, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, wherein the processor is operable to;

receive an indication that an e-mail has been received from an e-mail source;

if the e-mail source is identified in a contact list, present the e-mail with other e-mails received from sources identified in the contact list;

if the e-mail has a vendor registration code that was previously assigned to the e-mail source and the e-mail has a vendor registration purpose code that was previously assigned by a recipient to the e-mail source, present the e-mail with other e-mails received from sources registered to forward e-mails, wherein the vendor registration purpose code includes one or more classes of purposes related to the e-mail; and

if the e-mail does not have a vendor registration code that was previously assigned to the e-mail source or the e-mail does not have a vendor registration purpose code that was previously assigned by the recipient to the e-mail source, send a message to the e-mail source.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor is further operable to:

if the e-mail source is not from a source that is identified in a contact list and not from a source that is registered to forward e-mails, present the e-mail with other e-mails that are not from a source that is identified in a contact list and not from a source that is registered to forward e-mails.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor is further operable to:

present the e-mail with other e-mails that are not from a source that is identified in a contact list and not from a source that is registered to forward e-mails comprises presenting the e-mail with other e-mails from the same source category.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the processor is further operable to:

parse the e-mail to identify at least one of the following;

a username from whom the e-mail was forwarded, a source from which the e-mail was forwarded, the vendor registration code, and the vendor registration purpose code.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the processor is further operable to compare the username and source to the contact list to determine if the e-mail is from a source that is identified in the contact list.

36. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon for performing a method of sorting e-mails, the method comprising:

receiving an e-mail from an e-mail source;

if the e-mail has a vendor registration code that was previously assigned to the e-mail source and the e-mail has a vendor registration purpose code that was previously assigned by the a recipient to the e-mail source, presenting the e-mail with other e-mails received from sources registered to forward e-mails, wherein the vendor registration purpose code includes one or more classes of purposes related to the e-mail; and

if the e-mail does not have a vendor registration code that was previously assigned to the e-mail source or the e-mail does not have a vendor registration purpose code that was previously assigned by the recipient to the e-mail source, sending a message to the e-mail source.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 36, further comprising:

if the e-mail does not have a vendor registration code, presenting the e-mail with other e-mails that are not from a source that is registered to forward e-mails.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 37, wherein presenting the e-mail with other e-mails that are not from a source that is registered to forward e-mails comprises presenting the e-mail with other e-mails from the same source category.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 37, further comprising parsing the e-mail to identify at least one of the following:

a username from whom the e-mail was forwarded; and

a source from which the e-mail was forwarded.