Method, article of manufacture and apparatus for deleting electronic mail documents
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for deleting electronic mail documents addressed to, and received by, a recipient, comprising:
- receiving a first electronic mail document having a primary message and at least one contained message;
opening the first electronic mail document;
initiating a deletion routine configured to ensure deletion of related e-mails with respect to the opened first electronic mail document, the routine comprising;
determining whether a second electronic mail document, also addressed to and received by the recipient includes a primary message that is substantially similar to the at least one contained message; and
deleting the first electronic mail document, and the second electronic mail document if the primary message of the second electronic mail document is substantially similar to the at least one contained message;
wherein the primary messages are the current messages of the respective electronic messages and the at least one contained a message is a historical message of the first electronic mail document.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for deleting electronic mail (e-mail) documents. Specifically, the method selects a first e-mail document having a primary message and at least one contained message, determines whether a second e-mail document is substantially similar to one of the contained messages, and deletes the first e-mail document and the second e-mail document that is substantially similar to one of the contained messages. As such, the method not only deletes the selected e-mail document but also e-mail documents that are substantially similar to one of the contained messages.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for deleting electronic mail documents addressed to, and received by, a recipient, comprising:
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receiving a first electronic mail document having a primary message and at least one contained message;
opening the first electronic mail document;
initiating a deletion routine configured to ensure deletion of related e-mails with respect to the opened first electronic mail document, the routine comprising;
determining whether a second electronic mail document, also addressed to and received by the recipient includes a primary message that is substantially similar to the at least one contained message; and
deleting the first electronic mail document, and the second electronic mail document if the primary message of the second electronic mail document is substantially similar to the at least one contained message;
wherein the primary messages are the current messages of the respective electronic messages and the at least one contained a message is a historical message of the first electronic mail document.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
marking the first electronic mail document and the second electronic mail document that is substantially similar to the at least one contained message; and
deleting the marked electronic mail documents upon confirmation from a user.
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12. The method of claim 11 wherein the marked electronic mail documents are displayed on a list.
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13. An apparatus for deleting electronic mail documents comprising:
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a memory for storing (i) a plurality of received electronic mail documents addressed to a recipient and (ii) a delete routine; and
a processing unit, coupled to the memory, for executing the delete routine retrieved from the memory, selecting a first electronic mail document having been received and opened by the recipient and having a primary message and at least one contained message, identifying other electronic mail documents that are also addressed to the recipient and that include primary messages that are substantially similar to the at least one contained message, and deleting the first electronic mail document and the identified electronic mail documents;
wherein the primary messages are the current messages of the respective electronic mail documents and the at least one contained message is a historical message of the first electronic mail document.- View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A computer readable medium storing a software program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising:
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selecting a first electronic mail document addressed to and opened by a recipient and having a primary message and at least one contained message;
determining whether a second electronic mail document, also addressed to and received by the recipient, includes a primary message that is substantially similar to the at least one contained message; and
deleting the first electronic mail document, and the second electronic mail document if the primary message of the second electronic mail document is substantially similar to the at least one contained message;
wherein the primary messages are the current messages of the respective electronic mail documents and the at least one contained message is a historical message of the first electronic mail document.- View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
marking the first electronic mail document and the second electronic mail document that is substantially similar to the at least one contained message; and
deleting the marked electronic mail documents upon confirmation from a user.
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27. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the marked electronic mail documents are displayed on a list.
Specification