System for communicating information among a group of participants
First Claim
1. A network system for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:
- a server having an associated database and adapted to be used in the network, means in the server for generating and sending an electronic message to selected participants, means in the server for generating an electronic medium stored in the database and associated with the electronic message in response to a first open action of the electronic message by at least one of selected participants, the electronic medium containing dynamic content and all then-current updates received at the server from any other participants;
an interface in the electronic medium for communicating input from the selected participants to the electronic medium in the server; and
logic in communicating with the database to asynchronously dynamically update the electronic medium in the database in response to said input and to dynamically retrieve the dynamic content of the electronic medium stored in the database including all then-current updates in response to one of the input from the selected participants and an external source in data communication with the server.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system is described that can be used to communicate information among a group of participants. A participant may create an electronic form specifying a list of network addresses corresponding to other participants intended to receive the communication. A server receives the form and delivers a message associated with an electronic medium. When the participant opens the message, the electronic medium is produced by the server and includes static and dynamic content. The participant can add content to the dynamic content. The dynamic content regions can be asynchronously dynamically updated in the server to indicate a then current content of the electronic medium, and can be accessed by other participants in the group.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A network system for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:
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a server having an associated database and adapted to be used in the network, means in the server for generating and sending an electronic message to selected participants, means in the server for generating an electronic medium stored in the database and associated with the electronic message in response to a first open action of the electronic message by at least one of selected participants, the electronic medium containing dynamic content and all then-current updates received at the server from any other participants;
an interface in the electronic medium for communicating input from the selected participants to the electronic medium in the server; and
logic in communicating with the database to asynchronously dynamically update the electronic medium in the database in response to said input and to dynamically retrieve the dynamic content of the electronic medium stored in the database including all then-current updates in response to one of the input from the selected participants and an external source in data communication with the server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A network system including a plurality of client terminals, comprising:
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at least one data processing machine located at each of the client terminals; and
computer software, residing on a computer readable medium at each machine to cause the machine to perform the following operations;
parsing an electronic message in response to an open action;
receiving an electronic medium from a server and associated with the electronic message, the electronic medium containing dynamic content and all then-current updates received at the server from any of the client terminals;
submitting input entered into an interface of the electronic medium from a user of one of the client terminals to the electronic medium in the server, the server asynchronously dynamically updating the dynamic content of the electronic medium in response to said input to reflect the input from the user.
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26. A network system for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:
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a server adapted to be used in the network, the server having an associated database, and the server generating an electronic medium from the database and associated with an electronic message directed to the participants in the group in response to a first open action of the electronic message by at least one of the participants, the electronic medium containing dynamic content and all then-current updates received at the server from any other participants;
an interface in the electronic medium for communicating input from the participants to the electronic medium in the server; and
logic in communicating with the database to asynchronously dynamically update the electronic medium in the database in response to said input and to dynamically retrieve the dynamic content of the electronic medium stored in the database including all then-current updates in response to one of the input from the participants, the dynamic content being current when retrieved.
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27. An apparatus for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:
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a data store comprising one or more stored electronic media, each electronic medium associated with an electronic message, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store;
a processor that is communicatively coupled to the data store; and
a memory that is communicatively coupled to the data store and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;
generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants among the group;
receiving at a server separate from the participants, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more updates to a first electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message;
updating one or more of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic medium based on the one or more updates;
receiving information specifying an open action for the first electronic message from any other participant among the selected participants; and
providing the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium, including all then-current updates, to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
asynchronously receiving one or more second updates from a data source that is external to the data store and the processor;
dynamically updating one of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic message based on the one or more second updates.
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33. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic message further comprises one or more static content regions that define associated static content stored in the data store.
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34. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the step of receiving information specifying an open action comprises the step of receiving a request from an electronic mail client application program requesting to open the electronic message.
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35. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic medium comprises one or more instructions in hypertext markup language (HTML).
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36. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic medium comprises a name field that identifies network addresses of the selected participants;
- a subject field that identifies a subject of the electronic medium;
a plurality of static content elements; and
a plurality of dynamic content elements.
- a subject field that identifies a subject of the electronic medium;
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37. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic message comprises a transport envelope, a plurality of static content regions;
- a plurality of dynamic content regions; and
a plurality of MIME elements that delimit the static content regions and dynamic content regions.
- a plurality of dynamic content regions; and
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38. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, wherein each dynamic content region is defined by an IFRAME HTML tag or an ILAYER HTML tag.
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39. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the processor is communicatively coupled to a network, the apparatus further comprising:
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a second processor that is communicatively coupled to the network and associated with one of the selected participants; and
a second memory that is communicatively coupled to the second processor and comprising one or more second sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;
receiving the first electronic message as an HTML electronic mail message;
parsing and displaying one or more static content elements of the electronic mail message;
issuing one or more HTTP GET requests to retrieve the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message from the data store, including all then-current updates;
providing the dynamic content elements and then-current updates to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message.
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40. An apparatus for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:
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means for storing one or more electronic media, each electronic medium associated with an associated electronic message, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store;
means communicatively coupled to the data store for generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants among the group;
means for receiving at a server separate from the participants, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more updates to a first electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message;
means for updating one or more of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic medium based on the one or more updates;
means for receiving information specifying an open action for the first electronic message from any other participant among the selected participants; and
means for providing the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium, including all then-current updates, to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message.
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41. A data processing server, comprising:
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a processor that is communicatively coupled to a data store comprising one or more stored electronic media, each electronic medium associated with an electronic message, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store;
a computer-readable medium that is communicatively coupled to the processor and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;
generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants in a group, wherein the participants comprise users, clients, external computer systems, or external computer processes;
receiving at a server separate from the participants, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more updates to a first electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message;
updating one or more of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic medium based on the one or more updates;
receiving information specifying an open action for the first electronic message from any other participant among the selected participants; and
providing the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium, including all then-current updates, to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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Specification