Mechanism for facilitating organization and accessing of emails

• US 20080215687A1
• Filed: 06/19/2007
• Published: 09/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Rajkumar R. Madnani
• Inventors: Madnani, Rajkumar R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,024,410 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 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A mechanism is disclosed for generating a composite email for an email conversation. The composite email includes content automatically extracted from a plurality of the emails in the email conversation, and may be generated in response to a user accessing just one of the emails in the email conversation. A mechanism is also disclosed for discovering and recovering lost emails in an email conversation. A mechanism is further disclosed for automatically moving emails from one container to another after an email has been read. These and other advantageous email generating, manipulation, and organization mechanisms are disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method, comprising:

accessing a particular electronic mail message (email) that is part of an email conversation, wherein the email conversation spans across a plurality of separate emails, wherein all of the emails that are part of the email conversation have a unique identifier associated therewith that indicates that the emails are part of the email conversation, and wherein the particular email is currently located in a first logical container;

after accessing the particular email;

determining whether the particular email should be moved from the first logical container to another logical container;

determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email; and

in response to a determination that the particular email should be moved, automatically moving the particular email from the first logical container to the particular logical container.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

accessing, based at least partially upon the unique identifier, an email conversation data structure that is associated with the email conversation; and

determining, based upon information contained in the email conversation data structure, the particular logical container that is associated with the email conversation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

selecting a default logical container to be the particular logical container.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

prompting a user for input; and

receiving user input specifying the particular logical container to which to move the particular email.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular email is automatically moved when the particular email is closed after having been accessed.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the particular email should be moved comprises:

determining whether the particular email has been acknowledged as having been read.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the particular email should be moved comprises:

determining whether automatic movement functionality has been activated.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

extracting the unique identifier and content from the particular email;

accessing, based at least partially upon the unique identifier, an email conversation data structure that is associated with the email conversation, the email conversation data structure indicating which emails are part of the email conversation;

accessing one or more other emails indicated by the email data structure as being part of the email conversation;

extracting content from the one or more other emails; and

automatically generating a composite email which includes the content extracted from the particular email and the content extracted from the one or more other emails.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

determining, based upon information contained in the email conversation data structure, the particular logical container that is associated with the email conversation.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

selecting a default logical container to be the particular logical container.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

prompting a user for input; and

receiving user input specifying the particular logical container to which to move the particular email.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the particular email is automatically moved when the particular email is closed after having been accessed.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the particular email should be moved comprises:

determining whether the particular email has been acknowledged as having been read.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the particular email should be moved comprises:

determining whether automatic movement functionality has been activated.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

after accessing the one or more other emails;

determining whether any of the one or more other emails should be moved to the particular logical container; and

in response to a determination that one or more of the other emails should be moved, automatically moving at least a subset of the one or more other emails to the particular logical container.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

determining, based upon information contained in the email conversation data structure, the particular logical container that is associated with the email conversation.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

selecting a default logical container to be the particular logical container.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

prompting a user for input; and

receiving user input specifying the particular logical container to which to move the particular email.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the particular email and the subset of the one or more other emails are automatically moved when the particular email and the subset of the one or more other emails are closed after having been accessed.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein determining whether any of the one or more other emails should be moved comprises:

determining whether any of the one or more other emails have been acknowledged as having been read.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein determining whether any of the one or more other emails should be moved comprises:

determining whether automatic movement functionality has been activated.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein determining whether any of the one or more other emails should be moved comprises:

determining whether any of the one or more other emails are not already located in the particular logical container.

23. A machine implemented method, comprising:

accessing a particular electronic mail message (email) that is currently located in a first logical container;

after accessing the particular email;

determining whether the particular email should be moved from the first logical container to another logical container;

determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email; and

in response to a determination that the particular email should be moved, automatically moving the particular email from the first logical container to the particular logical container.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

selecting a default logical container to be the particular logical container.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein determining a particular logical container to which to move the particular email comprises:

prompting a user for input; and

receiving user input specifying the particular logical container to which to move the particular email.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the particular email is automatically moved when the particular email is closed after having been accessed.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein determining whether the particular email should be moved comprises:

determining whether the particular email has been acknowledged as having been read.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein determining whether the particular email should be moved comprises:

determining whether automatic movement functionality has been activated.

29. A machine implemented method, comprising:

causing a first user interface component to be rendered proximate to a second user interface component, wherein the second user interface component represents a logical container in which one or more electronic mail messages (emails) may be stored, and wherein the first user interface component indicates how many of the emails that are currently stored in the logical container are unread emails;

receiving an indication that a user is invoking the first user interface component; and

in response to the user invoking the first user interface component, causing an email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the email listing includes only the unread emails that are currently stored in the logical container.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein an unread email is an email that has not been accessed.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein an unread email is an email that has not been acknowledged by a user as having been read.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein an unread email is an email that has been accessed but has not been acknowledged by a user as having been read.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the user is invoking the second user interface component; and

in response to the user invoking the second user interface component, causing another email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the other email listing includes all of the emails that are currently stored in the logical container, including all unread and previously read emails.

34. A machine implemented method, comprising:

associating a set of one or more filtering criteria with a label;

applying the set of filtering criteria to emails stored in one or more logical containers to derive a set of one or more filtered emails that satisfy the filtering criteria;

associating the set of filtered emails with the label;

causing the label to be rendered to a user;

receiving an indication that the user is invoking the label; and

in response to the user invoking the label, causing an email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the email listing includes the emails in the set of filtered emails.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the label is not a logical container within which emails are stored, and wherein associating the set of filtered emails with the label comprises:

associating references to the set of filtered emails with the label.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

causing a user interface component to be rendered proximate to the label, wherein the user interface component indicates how many of the emails in the set of filtered emails are unread emails;

receiving an indication that the user is invoking the user interface component; and

in response to the user invoking the user interface component, causing another email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the other email listing includes only the unread emails in the set of filtered emails.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein an unread email is an email that has not been accessed.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein an unread email is an email that has not been acknowledged by a user as having been read.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein an unread email is an email that has been accessed but has not been acknowledged by a user as having been read.

40. A machine implemented method, comprising:

associating a first user-specified reminder with a first electronic mail message (email), the first reminder having a first reminder date associated therewith;

associating a first set of one or more date filtering criteria with a first heading;

applying the first set of date filtering criteria to the first reminder date to determine that the first reminder date satisfies the first set of date filtering criteria;

causing the first heading to be rendered; and

causing a first user interface (UI) component to be rendered proximate to the first heading, wherein the first UI component indicates a number of emails having reminders associated therewith that have reminder dates that satisfy the first set of date filtering criteria, and wherein the number of emails indicated by the first UI component includes the first email.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

receiving an indication that a user is invoking the first UI component;

in response to the user invoking the first UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the first email.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the first reminder has a first set of reminder text associated therewith, and wherein the information pertaining to the first email comprises at least a portion of the first set of reminder text.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein the first email is stored in a first logical container, and wherein the method further comprises:

causing a second UI component to be rendered, wherein the second UI component indicates a number of emails stored in the first logical container having reminders associated therewith that have reminder dates that satisfy the first set of date filtering criteria, and wherein the number of emails indicated by the second UI component includes the first email.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

receiving an indication that a user is invoking the second UI component;

in response to the user invoking the second UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the first email.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the first reminder has a first set of reminder text associated therewith, and wherein the information pertaining to the first email comprises at least a portion of the first set of reminder text.

46. The method of claim 40, wherein the method further comprises:

associating a second user-specified reminder with a second email, the second reminder having a second reminder date associated therewith; and

applying the first set of date filtering criteria to the second reminder date to determine that the second reminder date satisfies the first set of date filtering criteria; and

wherein the number of emails indicated by the first UI component includes both the first email and the second email.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

receiving an indication that a user is invoking the first UI component;

in response to the user invoking the first UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the first email and information pertaining to the second email.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the first reminder has a first set of reminder text associated therewith, wherein the second reminder has a second set of reminder text associated therewith, wherein the information pertaining to the first email comprises at least a portion of the first set of reminder text, and wherein the information pertaining to the second email comprises at least a portion of the second set of reminder text.

49. The method of claim 46, wherein the first email is stored in a first logical container, wherein the second email is stored in a second logical container, and wherein the method further comprises:

causing a second UI component to be rendered, wherein the second UI component indicates a number of emails stored in the first logical container having reminders associated therewith that have reminder dates that satisfy the first set of date filtering criteria, and wherein the number of emails indicated by the second UI component includes the first email but not the second email.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

causing a third UI component to be rendered, wherein the third UI component indicates a number of emails stored in the second logical container having reminders associated therewith that have reminder dates that satisfy the first set of date filtering criteria, and wherein the number of emails indicated by the third UI component includes the second email but not the first email.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising:

receiving an indication that a user is invoking the second UI component;

in response to the user invoking the second UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the first email but no information pertaining to the second email.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the first reminder has a first set of reminder text associated therewith, and wherein the information pertaining to the first email comprises at least a portion of the first set of reminder text.

53. The method of claim 50, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the user is invoking the third UI component;

in response to the user invoking the third UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the second email but no information pertaining to the first email.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the second reminder has a second set of reminder text associated therewith, and wherein the information pertaining to the second email comprises at least a portion of the second set of reminder text.

55. The method of claim 40, wherein the method further comprises:

associating a second user-specified reminder with a second email, the second reminder having a second reminder date associated therewith;

associating a second set of one or more date filtering criteria with a second heading;

applying the second set of date filtering criteria to the second reminder date to determine that the second reminder date satisfies the second set of date filtering criteria;

causing the second heading to be rendered; and

causing a second UI component to be rendered proximate to the second heading, wherein the second UI component indicates a number of emails having reminders associated therewith that have reminder dates that satisfy the second set of date filtering criteria, and wherein the number of emails indicated by the second UI component includes the second email but not the first email; and

wherein the number of emails indicated by the first UI component includes the first email but not the second email.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising:

causing a third UI component to be rendered, wherein the third UI component indicates a number of emails having reminders associated therewith, and wherein the number of emails indicated by the third UI component includes both the first email and the second email.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

receiving an indication that a user is invoking the third UI component;

in response to the user invoking the third UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the first email and information pertaining to the second email.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the first reminder has a first set of reminder text associated therewith, wherein the second reminder has a second set of reminder text associated therewith, wherein the information pertaining to the first email comprises at least a portion of the first set of reminder text, and wherein the information pertaining to the second email comprises at least a portion of the second set of reminder text.

59. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the user is invoking the first UI component;

in response to the user invoking the first UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the first email but no information pertaining to the second email.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the first reminder has a first set of reminder text associated therewith, and wherein the information pertaining to the first email comprises at least a portion of the first set of reminder text.

61. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the user is invoking the second UI component;

in response to the user invoking the second UI component, causing a first email listing to be rendered to the user, wherein the first email listing includes information pertaining to the second email but no information pertaining to the first email.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the second reminder has a second set of reminder text associated therewith, and wherein the information pertaining to the second email comprises at least a portion of the second set of reminder text.