Method and system for electronic document approval with displayed imprint
First Claim
1. An electronic approval method for an electronic approval system for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval method comprising the steps of:
- displaying a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail;
displaying in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint;
displaying in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal;
displaying in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal; and
when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic approval method and system for determining an electronic mail to be approved from received pieces of electronic mail, efficiently performing electronic approval on a selected piece of electronic mail, and efficiently sending the processed pieces of electronic mail back to its sender if not approved or to the next approving person if approved. Pieces of electronic mail are received and classified by types according to various categories such as mail for approval, mail for return/forwarding, mail for reference (peruse), and unread/already read mail others as necessary. From the received pieces of electronic mail, a piece of electronic mail to be approved is selected and displayed on a display device. An electronic approval column of the displayed piece of electronic mail is registered with an approval seal of the previous approving person. In an electronic approval column of the current approving person who has received the mail, an imprint of the current approving person blinks to indicate the location the approval seal of the current approving person is to be disposed. If the current approving person does not approve the mail, clicks the approval column of the previous approving person to send the mail back to the sender. If the current approving person approves the mail, the current approving person registers their approval seal and clicks an imprint of a next approving person which may be a superior, another section or other such destination to forward the mail.
123 Citations
52 Claims
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1. An electronic approval method for an electronic approval system for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval method comprising the steps of:
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displaying a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; displaying in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint; displaying in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal; displaying in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal; and when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An electronic approval system for electronically approving received pieces of electronic mail and transmitting the approved pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval system comprising:
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a display device for displaying a received piece of electronic mail; an imprint display controller for displaying an approved imprint and a plurality of imprint to be approved on said displayed piece of electronic mail; approval seal affixing apparatus for selecting an imprint to be approved and electronically affixing an approval seal to the selected imprint; and a transmitter for selecting one of the displayed imprints and transmitting the displayed piece of electronic mail to a person corresponding to the selected imprint. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer program stored on a computer readable medium executable by a computer for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said computer program comprising:
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a first code for causing said computer to display a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; a second code for causing said computer to display in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint; a third code for causing said computer to display in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal; a fourth code for causing said computer to display in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal; and a fifth code for causing said computer to transfer, when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. An electronic approval apparatus for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval apparatus comprising:
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a display having a display screen for displaying display information including a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; and a controller for displaying on said display screen, in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint, displaying, on said display screen, in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal, displaying, on said display screen, in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal, and when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification