Computer Servers for Contact Information Management

• US 20140164493A1
• Filed: 02/13/2014
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Gropper, Robert L.
• Application Number:
  US14/180,311
• Publication Number:
  US 20140164493A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4505 using standardised directories; using standardised directory access protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

An Internet-based system capable of automatically maintaining contact-related information in any computer software application or digital device which stores or manages contact-related information. More particularly, the system allows users to automatically enter and maintain contact-related information in a digital address book or similar application or device (such as a wireless phone or PDA) with minimal or no manual entry of the contact-related information by the user. The system also allows contacts of the user (i.e. people who'"'"'s contact information or partial contact information is present in the user'"'"'s address book application) to make corrections to their contact-related information contained in the user'"'"'s address book, request reciprocal contact information from the user, deny the user access to additional or corrected contact-related information and take other actions relative to managing the contact-related information which others (users) have about them.

Claims

1. A computer server for contact information management, comprising:

a communications interface that is configured to receive contact information from client computers and direct update requests to addressee computers; and

a computer processor that is coupled to the communications interface and programmed to (i) receive, from a client computer, contact information for an addressee extracted from an address book data structure of an address book, which contact information includes an address, (ii) transmit to the addressee computer associated with the address, an update request for the contact information, and (iii) in response to the update request, receive from the addressee computer an update to the contact information or a request to deny the update request.

2. The computer server of claim 1, wherein the computer server is programmed to determine whether the addressee computer is associated with the addressee.

3. The computer server of claim 1, wherein the computer server is programmed to determine whether the addressee computer is associated with the address in response to the update to the contact information received from the addressee computer.

4. The computer server of claim 1, wherein the client computer is remotely located with respect to the computer server.

5. The computer server of claim 1, wherein the computer server receives from the client computer a request that the computer server transmit the update request to the addressee.

6. The computer server of claim 1, wherein the computer server is programmed to transmit the contact information to the addressee computer with the update request.

7. The computer server of claim 1, wherein, in response to the update request, the computer server receives from the addressee computer a request to deny the update request and stores a tag to prevent future requests for updated contact information to the addressee computer.

8. The computer server of claim 1, further comprising a server database for storing status tags on addressee records.

9. The computer server of claim 8, wherein the status tags comprise block tags, and wherein prior to transmitting the update request, the computer processor accesses the server database to determine whether a block tag associated with the addressee is present.

10. The computer server of claim 1, wherein the computer server is programmed to automatically transmit the update to the contact information to the client computer.

11. The computer server of claim 1, wherein the client computer is a portable computer.

12. A computer server for contact information management, comprising:

a communications interface that is configured to receive contact information from client computers and direct update requests to addressee computers; and

a computer processor that is coupled to the communications interface and programmed to (i) receive, from a portable client computer, contact information for an addressee retrieved from an address book, which contact information includes an address, (ii) transmit to the addressee computer associated with the address, an update request for the contact information, and (iii) in response to the update request, receive from the addressee computer an update to the contact information or a request to deny the update request.

13. The computer server of claim 12, wherein the computer server is programmed to determine whether the addressee computer is associated with the addressee.

14. The computer server of claim 12, wherein the computer server is programmed to determine whether the addressee computer is associated with the address in response to the update to the contact information received from the addressee computer.

15. The computer server of claim 12, wherein the portable client computer is remotely located with respect to the computer server.

16. The computer server of claim 12, wherein the computer server receives from the portable client computer a request that the computer server transmit the update request to the addressee.

17. The computer server of claim 12, wherein the computer server is programmed to transmit the contact information to the addressee computer with the update request.

18. The computer server of claim 12, wherein, in response to the update request, the computer server receives from the addressee computer a request to deny the update request and stores a tag to prevent future requests for updated contact information to the addressee computer.

19. The computer server of claim 12, further comprising a server database for storing status tags on addressee records.

20. The computer server of claim 19, wherein the status tags comprise block tags, and wherein prior to transmitting the update request, the computer processor is programmed to access the server database to determine whether a block tag associated with the addressee is present.

21. The computer server of claim 12, wherein the computer server is programmed to automatically transmit the update to the contact information to the portable client computer.