Collaborative email with delegable authorities

• US 7,437,421 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2004
• Issued: 10/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhogal, Kulvir Singh, Kamper, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lin; Kenny
• Assistant Examiner(s): Belani; Kishin G
• Application Number:
  US10/835,336
• Publication Number:
  US 20050033813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,629 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/205, 705/10, 705/35, 711/152, 713/165, 715/753
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes

Abstract

Writing a collaborative email document with hierarchical authorities including establishing a collaborative email document on an administrator'"'"'s computer, identifying one or more signatories for the document, identifying one or more collaborators who are authorized to view and edit the document, providing to the collaborators copies of the document for viewing and editing, where the collaborators'"'"' copies reside on collaborators'"'"' computers, updating the copies of the document on collaborators'"'"' computers with revisions from the collaborators, and sending the collaborative email document from the administrator'"'"'s computer to addressees when the document bears valid digital signatures from all signatories. Typical embodiments also include providing at least one user authority to delegate signature authority, establishing a hierarchy of delegation authority for signatures, establishing at least one authority delegation policy including at least one rule for automated delegation of signature authority among signatories and delegating signature authority from at least one signatory to another.

Claims

1. A method for writing a collaborative email document with delegable authorities, the method comprising:

establishing a hierarchy of delegation authority for signatures;

establishing at least one authority delegation policy comprising at least one rule for automated delegation of signature authority among signatories in the hierarchy;

wherein

rules for automated delegation of signature authority comprise;

a first rule that the signature authority of a first signatory having a first position in a hierarchy of delegation authority may be delegated to a second signatory having a second position in the hierarchy of delegation authority, wherein the second position is higher in the hierarchy than the first position;

a second rule that a first signatory having a first position in the hierarchy of delegation authority may digitally sign the collaborative email document only after a second signatory having a second position in the hierarchy of delegation authority has signed the collaborative email document, wherein the second position is higher in the hierarchy than the first position;

a third rule that signature authority is to be delegated to a second signatory if a first signatory does not sign the document within a specified period of time; and

a fourth rule that signature authority may be delegated during a specified period of time; and

establishing a collaborative email document on an administrator'"'"'s computer;

establishing time parameters for writing the collaborative email document;

providing alerts and reminders in accordance with the established time parameters; and

forwarding copies of the collaborative email document to delegated backup collaborators in accordance with the established time parameters;

identifying one or more signatories for the document;

identifying editable portions of the email document;

specifying that only certain collaborators are authorized to view and edit one or more portions of the document;

wherein authority to view and edit one or more portions of the document includes authority to delegate to another collaborator the authority to view and edit one or more portions of the document;

providing to the collaborators copies of the document for viewing and editing, wherein the collaborators'"'"' copies reside on collaborators'"'"' computers;

updating the copies of the document on collaborators'"'"' computers with revisions from the collaborators; and

delegating signature authority from at least one signatory to another signatory in accordance with the authority delegation policy

sending the collaborative email document from the administrator'"'"'s computer to addressees when the document bears valid digital signatures from all signatories.