Electronic mail system for displaying advertisement at local computer received from remote system while the local computer is off-line the remote system
DCFirst Claim
1. In an electronic mail system, a method for displaying advertisements to a user at a local computer when the local computer is off-line, comprising the steps of:
- creating an electronic mail message at the local computer;
establishing a communications link between the local computer and a remote system;
receiving an advertisement from the remote system;
storing the advertisement on a storage device at the local computer;
transferring the electronic mail message from the local computer to the remote system;
terminating the communications link between the local computer and the remote system; and
outputting the advertisement at the local computer while the local computer is off-line with respect to the remote system.
8 Assignments
Litigations
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for providing scheduled messages to a remote user in a batch oriented system. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a user creates and/or reads electronic mail locally. While the user creates the electronic mail, a message is displayed to the user on a portion of the local monitor, the message preferably changing in accordance with a local display schedule and stored on a local storage device. The message is preferably targeted to the particular user. When the user is ready to transmit the e-mail created and/or receive e-mail addressed to him, the user'"'"'s local client establishes a connection via a modem with a remote e-mail server system. The remote e-mail server system not only receives the e-mail transmitted by the user and/or transmits e-mail addressed to the user, but also updates the user'"'"'s local messages in accordance with a distribution schedule. After the e-mail and message updates are transmitted, the user'"'"'s local client computer is disconnected from the remote e-mail server system.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. In an electronic mail system, a method for displaying advertisements to a user at a local computer when the local computer is off-line, comprising the steps of:
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creating an electronic mail message at the local computer; establishing a communications link between the local computer and a remote system; receiving an advertisement from the remote system; storing the advertisement on a storage device at the local computer; transferring the electronic mail message from the local computer to the remote system; terminating the communications link between the local computer and the remote system; and outputting the advertisement at the local computer while the local computer is off-line with respect to the remote system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In an electronic mail system, a method for displaying advertisements to a user at a local computer when the local computer is off-line, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a communications link between the local computer and a remote system; receiving a plurality of advertisements from the remote system; storing the plurality of advertisements on a storage device at the local computer; transferring an electronic mail message from the remote system to the local computer; storing the electronic mail message on the storage device at the local computer; terminating the communications link between the local computer and the remote system; outputting the electronic mail message at the local computer; concurrently with the previous step, outputting one of the plurality of advertisement at the local computer while the local computer is off-line with respect to the remote system. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. In an electronic mail system, a method for displaying advertisements to a user at a local computer when the local computer is off-line, comprising the steps of:
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creating a first electronic mail message at the local computer; concurrently with the previous step, outputting a first advertisement at the local computer while the user is creating the first electronic mail message; establishing a communications link between the local computer and a remote system; receiving a second advertisement from the remote system; storing the second advertisement on a storage device at the local computer; transferring the first electronic mail message from the local computer to the remote system; transferring a second electronic mail message from the remote system to the local computer; storing the second electronic mail message on the storage device at the local computer; terminating the communications link between the local computer and the remote system; outputting the second advertisement at the local computer while the local computer is off-line with respect to the remote system; and concurrently with the previous step, displaying the second electronic mail message at the local computer while the local computer is off-line with respect to the remote system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method to operate an e-mail system having a server system and a plurality of user computers, comprising the steps of:
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enabling the creation and reading of e-mail messages at user computers while the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system; transferring e-mail messages between the user computers and the server system while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; transferring advertisements from the server system to the user computers while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; storing the transferred advertisements locally at the user computers; and outputting the stored advertisements at the user computers when e-mail messages are being created or read and while the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of operating an e-mail system having a plurality of user computers operated by users and a server system, comprising the steps of:
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enabling the creation and reading of e-mail messages at user computers while the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system; determining, at the server system, advertisements that are relevant for each user; transferring e-mail messages between the user computers and the server system while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; transferring relevant advertisements from the server system to the user computers while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; storing the transferred advertisements locally at the user computers; outputting the stored advertisements at the user computers when e-mail messages are being created or read while the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. In an electronic mail system, a method for displaying advertisements to a user at a local computer when the local computer is off-line, comprising the steps of:
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coupling the local computer to a remote system; receiving a first advertisement and a second advertisement from the remote system; storing the first advertisement and the second advertisement on a storage device at the local computer; transferring an electronic mail message from the remote system to the local computer; storing the electronic mail message on the storage device at the local computer; decoupling the local computer from the remote system; displaying the electronic mail message at the local computer; and concurrently with the previous step, (a) displaying the first advertisement at the local computer while the electronic mail message is displayed, and (b) after a predetermined time, displaying the second advertisement in place of the first advertisement while the electronic mail message is displayed.
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33. In an electronic mail system, a method for displaying advertisements to a user at a local computer when the local computer is off-line, comprising the steps of:
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creating a first electronic mail message at the local computer; concurrently with the previous step, displaying a first advertisement at the local computer while the user is creating the first electronic mail message; storing, in a statistics file, information to identify that the first advertisement was displayed; coupling the local computer to a remote system; receiving a second advertisement from the remote system; storing the second advertisement on a storage device at the local computer; transferring the first electronic mail message from the local computer to the remote system; transferring the statistics file from the local computer to the remote system; transferring a second electronic mail message from the remote system to the local computer; storing the second electronic mail message on the storage device at the local computer; decoupling the local computer from the remote system; displaying the second advertisement at the local computer while the local computer is communicatively disconnected from the remote system; and concurrently with the previous step, displaying the second electronic mail message at the local computer while the local computer is off-line with respect to the remote system. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method to operate a network having a server system and a plurality of user computers, comprising the steps of:
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enabling the output of digital content to users at user computers while the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system; transferring digital content from the server system to the user computers while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; transferring advertisements from the server system to the user computers while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; storing the transferred advertisements locally at the user computers; and outputting the stored advertisements at the user computers when the digital content is output to users at user computers while the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. An electronic mail system for displaying advertisements to a user, comprising:
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a remote system comprising a plurality of mail servers storing advertisements and electronic mail messages; and a local computer having a storage device and a processor program for creating an electronic mail message, establishing a communications link with the remote system, receiving an advertisement from the remote system, storing the advertisement on the storage device, transferring the electronic mail message to the remote system, terminating the communications link with the remote system, and outputting the advertisement while off-line with respect to the remote system. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. An e-mail terminal for use in conjunction with a server system having one or more mail servers, comprising:
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means for creating an electronic communications link with the server system; means for transferring advertisements from the server system while in electronic communications with the server system; a storage device for storing advertisements received from the server system; means for terminating the electronic communications link with the server system; means for enabling the creation and reading of e-mail messages while not in electronic communications with the server system; means for transferring e-mail messages from one of the mail servers of the server system while in electronic communications with the server system; and an output device for outputting the stored advertisements when e-mail messages are being created or read.
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48. An e-mail system for use by a plurality of users, comprising:
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a server system, including means for determining advertisements that are relevant for each user; means enabling the creation and reading of e-mail messages at remote computers while said remote computers are off-line with respect to the server system; means for transferring e-mail messages between said remote computers and the server system while said remote computers are on-line with respect to the server system; means for transferring relevant advertisements from the server system to remote computers while said remote computers are on-line with respect to the server system; means for storing the transferred advertisements locally at the remote computers; means for outputting the stored advertisements at the remote computers when e-mail messages are being created or read at the remote computers. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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51. A method to operate an e-mail system having a server system and a plurality of user computers, comprising the steps of:
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enabling the creation and reading of e-mail messages by users at user computers while the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system; transferring e-mail messages between the user computers and the server system while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; transferring advertisements from the server system to the user computers while the user computers are on-line with respect to the server system; storing the transferred advertisements locally at the user computers; and outputting, under the control of the user computers and without user intervention, the stored advertisements at the user computers when the user computers are off-line with respect to the server system.
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52. The method of claim 53 further comprising the step of allowing the user to select an advertisement while the advertisement is being output, and thereafter outputting additional information to the user, the additional information stored locally at the user computer along with the advertisement that was selected.
Specification