E-mail forwarding system having archival database

• US 7,016,938 B1
• Filed: 07/31/2000
• Issued: 03/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cufer Asset Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Pitney Bowes Incorporated (Böwe Systec AG)
• Inventors: Quine, Douglas B
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Rupal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bayard, Djenane M.
• Application Number:
  US09/629,904
• Time in Patent Office: 2,059 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 709/225, 379/88.17
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1863 comprising mechanisms for improved reliability, e.g. status reports arrangements for detecting or preventing errors by carrying supervisory signal the return channel H04L1/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4555 Directories for electronic mail or instant messaging

Abstract

A method for forwarding an e-mail message from a disfavored e-mail address to a forwarding e-mail address via a remote e-mail forwarding computer having a unique e-mail address. An e-mail message is sent from a user to the remote e-mail forwarding computer. The remote e-mail forwarding computer parses the intended e-mail address from the e-mail message to determine if there is a disfavored e-mail address associated with the intended e-mail address. The e-mail message is sent from the remote computer to a computer associated with at least one forwarding address if there is determined at least one disfavored e-mail address is associated with the intended e-mail address. If there is not a determined forwarding e-mail address than the remote computer stores at least the disfavored e-mail in archival for forwarding in the event a forwarding address is subsequently stored in the remote computer which is associated with the disfavored e-mail address.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting an e-mail message comprising the steps of:

receiving the e-mail message at an intermediate address, the e-mail message including non-preferred e-mail address data, the e-mail message having been previously transmitted to an invalid e-mail address and transmitted back to a sender e-mail address;

parsing the non-preferred e-mail address data from the e-mail message at the intermediate address and determining whether there is a subscriber account associated with the non-preferred e-mail address and if there is preferred e-mail address data associated with the non-preferred e-mail address data; and

storing, at a location associated with the intermediate address, the non-preferred e-mail address data and the associated sender e-mail address when it is determined that there is no subscriber account associated with the non-preferred e-mail address and no preferred e-mail address data associated with the non-preferred e-mail address data.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

transmitting the e-mail message to the preferred e-mail address when preferred e-mail address data is associated with the non-preferred e-mail address data.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising the step of sending a return e-mail message to a sender address from the intermediate address indicating that the e-mail message has been sent to the preferred e-mail address.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of sending a return e-mail message to a sender address from the intermediate address indicating that the e-mail message was not forwarded to the preferred e-mail address.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising indicating to the sender that the intermediate address will withdraw the e-mail message upon receiving a request from the sender address.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting an e-mail message to the preferred e-mail address indicating that a user at a sender e-mail address is attempting to transmit an e-mail message to the non-preferred e-mail address.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the storing step further comprising the step of:

storing the non-preferred e-mail address data until a recipient registers the preferred e-mail address data.

8. A method for transmitting an e-mail message that has been sent from a sender address to a previously-known recipient e-mail address and rejected at the previously-known recipient e-mail address and transmitted back to the sender address, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the rejected e-mail message at an intermediate address;

determining whether there is a subscriber account associated with the non-preferred e-mail address and whether there is a preferred recipient e-mail address from the rejected e-mail message; and

storing, at a location associated with the intermediate address, the previously-known recipient e-mail address and the associated sender address when it is determined that there is no subscriber account associated with the non-preferred e-mail address and no preferred recipient e-mail address associated with the previously-known recipient e-mail address.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising the step of:

transmitting the e-mail message to the preferred recipient e-mail address when a preferred recipient e-mail address is associated with the previously-known recipient e-mail address.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising the step of sending a return e-mail message to a sender address from the intermediate address indicating that the e-mail message has been sent to the preferred recipient e-mail address.

11. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising the step of sending a return e-mail message to a sender address from the intermediate address indicating that the e-mail message was not forwarded to the preferred recipient e-mail address.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising indicating to the sender that the intermediate address will withdraw the e-mail message upon receiving a request from the sender address.

13. The method as claimed in claim 8 further comprising the step of transmitting an e-mail message to the preferred recipient e-mail address indicating that a user at a sender e-mail address is attempting to transmit an e-mail message to the previously-known recipient e-mail address.

14. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the storing step further comprising the step of:

storing the non-preferred e-mail address data until a recipient registers the preferred e-mail address data.

15. A method for transmitting an e-mail message that has been sent from a sender address to a second address, rejected at the second address and transmitted back to the sender address, the e-mail message including a non-preferred e-mail address associated with a first service provider, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the e-mail message at an intermediate address;

parsing the e-mail message to obtain the non-preferred e-mail address from the e-mail message;

determining whether there is a subscriber account associated with the non-preferred e-mail address and whether there is a preferred e-mail address, that is associated with a second service provider, from the non-preferred e-mail address; and

storing, at a location associated with the intermediate address, the non-preferred recipient e-mail address when it is determined that there is no subscriber account associated with the non-preferred e-mail address and no preferred recipient e-mail address associated with the non-preferred e-mail address.