SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR END-USER MANAGEMENT OF E-MAIL THREADS USING A SINGLE CLICK
First Claim
1. A method, in an email system, for allowing a first user to select an email on a user interface and for automatically suppressing emails addressed to the first user related to the selected email, the email system having a thread suppress filter with suppression settings, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving, from the first user, a selection of an email;
receiving, from the first user, suppression settings;
receiving, from the first user, an indication that a thread suppress control button on the user interface has been selected by the first user;
receiving, from a second user, an email addressed to the first user;
determining whether the received email is related to the selected email according to the suppression settings; and
if so, acting upon the received email based upon the thread suppress filter suppression settings.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides various simple and easy ways for each end user to manage the thread in a way that suits them. In some cases, the user experience requires only a single click. Additional embodiments allow user to manage inbox space, recover suppressed threads, be alerted on contextual changes of such threads, and so forth. The system allows the user to specifically configure his/her own email thread management scheme by selecting an email and choosing “Suppress Thread” on his/her user interface. The system then performs a number of steps such as examining the <message-id> and <references> headers of the selected email to configure the suppress filter. Once configured, the system will examine each email as it is received and examine its <message-id> and <references> headers per RFC 822. If the headers match the configured <messageid> and <responses> headers, the emails will be suppressed in the manner chosen by the user such as deletion or move to folder.
75 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method, in an email system, for allowing a first user to select an email on a user interface and for automatically suppressing emails addressed to the first user related to the selected email, the email system having a thread suppress filter with suppression settings, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, from the first user, a selection of an email; receiving, from the first user, suppression settings; receiving, from the first user, an indication that a thread suppress control button on the user interface has been selected by the first user; receiving, from a second user, an email addressed to the first user; determining whether the received email is related to the selected email according to the suppression settings; and if so, acting upon the received email based upon the thread suppress filter suppression settings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for allowing users to suppress an email thread comprising one or more emails in an email system having a thread suppress filter, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, from a first user, an indication to suppress an email thread through the selection by the first user of a suppress thread button; determining if the first user has selected an email whose email thread the first user wishes to suppress and, if so, retrieving the MIME headers from the selected email; and determining whether there is more than one email in the thread by examining the MIME headers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A system for allowing users to suppress or otherwise control specific aspects of email threads wherein a sending user sends an email to one or more recipient users to create a email thread, the email having MIME headers per RFC 822, the system, for use by a first user, being the sending user or a recipient user, comprising:
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a first user interface; a suppress thread button on the first user'"'"'s user interface; and a thread suppress filter, the thread suppress filter being activated by the first user selecting an email and depressing the suppress thread button, the thread suppress filter having a header parser, a first user configuration file, and a processor, the first user configuration file having the first user'"'"'s or default suppression settings specifying MIME headers for emails to be suppressed and the action to be taken on the received emails having headers matching the headers in the first user'"'"'s configuration file, the header parser for parsing the headers from the received emails to determine whether the email headers match the headers in the first user'"'"'s configuration file; and
the processor for taking action, per the user configuration file, on an email having matching headers. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A thread suppress filter for allowing a first user to suppress or otherwise control specific aspects of email threads, the thread suppress filter being activated by the first user selecting an email thread to be suppressed and a suppress thread button on the first user'"'"'s user interface, the thread suppress filter having a header parser and a user configuration file, the user configuration file having the user'"'"'s or default suppression settings specifying <
- message-id> and
<
references>
headers for emails or threads to be suppressed and the action to be taken on the received emails having headers matching headers specified in the user'"'"'s configuration file, the header parser for parsing the headers from the received emails to determine whether the email headers have <
message-id> and
<
references>
headers matching the specified <
message-id> and
<
references>
headers in the user'"'"'s configuration file; and
a processor for taking action, per the user configuration file, on an email having matching headers. - View Dependent Claims (14)
- message-id> and
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15. A computer software program comprising program code stored on a computer-readable medium, which when executed, enables a computer system to implement a method, in an email system, for allowing a first user to select an email on a user interface and for automatically suppressing emails addressed to the first user related to the selected email, the email system having a thread suppress filter with suppression settings, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, from the first user, a selection of an email; receiving, from the first user, suppression settings; receiving, from the first user, an indication that a thread suppress control button on the user interface has been selected by the first user; receiving, from a second user, an email addressed to the first user; determining whether the received email is related to the selected email according to the suppression settings; and if so, acting upon the received email based upon the thread suppress filter suppression settings. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification