System and method for re-routing of e-mail messages

• US 6,892,222 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Issued: 05/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Validity, Inc. (Validity Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Return Path Incorporated (Validity Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Stead, Graham D., McDowell, Mark E., Khalil, Joseph G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Dung C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Flynn, Kimberly D
• Application Number:
  US10/159,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20030005064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,075 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 379/93.01, 710/1
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the re-routing of e-mail sent to a prior address (or an address that is non-working, or temporarily inconvenient) to the new address of an intended recipient. E-mail that is to be sent to a recipient is sent to the former Internet Service Provider (ISP). Because the recipient is no longer a subscriber to the old ISP, or because the address at the old ISP is temporarily inconvenient, the e-mail is re-routed to a re-route server of the present invention. The re-route server then causes the e-mail to be sent to the correct address through a variety of processes. Alternatively, new e-mail addresses are made available at the old ISP. The old ISP can then forward e-mail messages directly to the new ISP.

Claims

1. A system for re-routing e-mail so as to provide transition between providers via an independent re-route server, the system comprising:

an old provider at which a recipient formerly was a subscriber and at which the recipient had an old e-mail address;

a re-route server that is independent of the recipient'"'"'s old provider, connected to the old provider via a network and adapted to register and process re-route requests and effect the forwarding of e-mail to the recipient; and

a new provider, connected to the network, at which the recipient has a new e-mail address.

2. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server comprises a saver memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

receiving an e-mail re-route request from the recipient, and forwarding the re-route request to the old provider; and

wherein the old provider comprises an old provider memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the old provider to perform;

receiving and processing the re-route request.

3. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the re-route request received by the re-route server from the recipient comprises the new address of the recipient.

4. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the re-route request forwarded to the old provider comprises instructions for forwarding the e-mail of the recipient to the new address for the recipient at the new provider.

5. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the old provider further comprises a “

FROM”

account for the recipient; and

wherein the software instructions embodied in the old provider memory further enable the old provider to perform receiving and processing the re-route request by;

inserting a “

forward”

file comprising a “

to”

account comprising the new address of the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address when it is received at the old provider.

6. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the old provider further comprises a “

FROM”

account for the recipient, and wherein the software instructions embodied in the old provider memory further enable the old provider to perform receiving and processing the re-route request by;

aliasing the FROM account for the recipient with an alias entry comprising the new address for the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address when it is received at the old provider.

7. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the old provider further comprises a “

FROM”

account for the recipient and an X.500 database in which the “

FROM”

account is stored, and wherein the software instructions embodied in the old provider memory further enable the old provider to perform receiving and processing the re-route request by;

inserting a “

to”

account entry into the X.500 database comprising the new address of the recipient; and

forwarding e-mail to the new address when it is received at the old provider.

8. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, further comprising storage, in which a DNS table is stored, the DNS table comprising a “

to”

account comprising the new address of the recipient; and

wherein the software instructions embodied in the old provider memory further enable the old provider to perform;

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the new address.

9. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein an SMTP wrapper augments a message transport system of the old provider;

and

wherein the software instructions embodied in the old provider memory further enable the old provider to perform;

creating a private alias file comprising a “

to”

account comprising the new address for the recipient;

passing e-mail for other recipients whose addresses are not in the private alias file to the message transport system of the old provider; and

forwarding e-mail for the recipient to the “

to”

account for the recipient.

10. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 2, wherein the new address comprises an e-mail address in Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) format.

11. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server comprises a re-route server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

receiving at the re-route server a query from a sending computer for the new e-mail address for the recipient;

determining, at the re-route server, if the new e-mail address for the recipient is available;

in the event that the new e-mail address for the recipient is available, the re-route server providing the new address to the sending computer for the sending computer to re-address e-mail to the recipient at the new e-mail address.

12. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 11, wherein the query is under the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).

13. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server comprises a re-route server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

receiving at the re-route server a query from a sending computer for the new e-mail address for the recipient;

determining, at the re-route server, if the new e-mail address for the recipient is available; and

forwarding from the re-route server e-mail sent by the sending computer to the recipient to the new e-mail address if the new address is available.

14. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 13, wherein the query is under the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).

15. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server further comprises Mail Exchange (MX) authority for the old provider;

the re-route server comprising a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

receiving e-mail addressed to subscribers of the old provider;

comparing the addresses of subscribers to the old provider to a re-route customer list, the re-route customer list comprising new addresses for re-route customers; and

forwarding the e-mail to the new addresses if the e-mail is addressed to subscribers to the old provider who are also subscribers to the re-route server.

16. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 15, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enable the re-route server to perform:

passing the e-mail through to the old provider if the e-mail is not addressed to a re-route subscriber.

17. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server further comprises a mail exchange re-route directory further comprising an entry for the recipient'"'"'s new e-mail address mapped to the old e-mail address, each entry comprising a user portion and a fully qualified domain name portion;

the re-route server comprising a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform;

distributing the-mail exchange directory to the old provider, thereby allowing the old provider to forward e-mail to the new address of the recipient.

18. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server comprises a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

sending a re-route add request message to the old provider upon receiving a request from the recipient for re-route service.

19. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 18, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enables the re-route server to perform:

sending a message to the recipient confirming that the request for re-route service is accepted, in the event that a message is received from the old provider indicating that the re-route add request message has been accepted.

20. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server comprises a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

sending a re-route delete request message to the old provider, in the event that no re-route service extension authorization is indicated by the recipient.

21. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 20, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enables the re-route server to perform:

sending a message to the recipient indicating that re-route service is ended, in the event that a message is received from the old provider indicating that the re-route delete request message has been accepted.

22. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server comprises a server memory embodying software instructions adapted to enable the re-route server to perform:

sending a re-route edit request message to the old provider upon receiving a request from the recipient for updated re-route service.

23. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 22, wherein the software instructions embodied in the server memory further enables the re-route server to perform:

sending a message to the recipient confirming that the request for updated re-route service is accepted, in the event that a message is received from the old provider indicating that the re-route edit request message has been accepted.

24. The system for re-routing of e-mail of claim 1, wherein the old provider comprises an old ISP and the now provider comprises a new ISP.

25. The system for re-routing e-mail of claim 1, wherein the re-route server is further adapted to transmit a sender notification to senders of the e-mail being forwarded.

26. A method of re-route e-mail comprising:

registering, at a re-route server, a request from an e-mail recipient to re-route the recipient'"'"'s e-mail;

accessing and downloading, to the re-route server, e-mail for the recipient stored at an old provider; and

forwarding the downloaded e-mail from the re-route server to a now address for the recipient.

27. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 26, wherein the accessing and downloading occurs on a periodic basis.

28. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 26, wherein the request to re-route the recipient'"'"'s e-mail comprises the old address of the recipient at the old provider and the new address to which the recipient wants the recipient'"'"'s e-mail forwarded.

29. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting from the re-route server a sender notification to senders of the e-mail being forwarded.

30. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 29, wherein the sender notification is formed to include the recipient'"'"'s new e-mail address.

31. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 29, wherein the sender notification is formed to include an embedded link to a web site associated with the re-route server, the web site providing the sender with the recipient'"'"'s new e-mail address has changed.

32. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 29, wherein the sender notification is formed to include only a notification that the recipient'"'"'s e-mail address has changed.

33. The method of re-routing e-mail of claim 26, wherein the old provider comprises an old ISP.

34. A method of re-routing e-mail so as to provide transition between providers via an independent re-route server, the method comprising:

a recipient registering with the re-route server that is independent of the recipient'"'"'s old provider;

the re-route server sending a re-route request to the old provider;

the old provider receiving and process the re-route request

the old provider re-routing e-mail for the recipient to a new provider after the receipt and processing of the re-route request; and

transmitting from the old provider a sender notification to senders of the e-mail being forwarded.