Methods and systems of electronic message threading and ranking

• US 7,593,995 B1
• Filed: 07/13/2006
• Issued: 09/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Veritas Technologies, LLC (Whitehouse Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Clearwell Systems (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: He, Yongqiang, Rangan, Venkat, Kumar, Mohan
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer; Firmin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eskandarnia; Arvin
• Application Number:
  US11/457,317
• Time in Patent Office: 1,167 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

A system of ranking e-mail threads is disclosed. The system receives e-mail messages, and determines e-mail threads in response to the e-mail messages. The system determines an e-mail rank associated with each e-mail message in the e-mail threads, where an e-mail rank associated with an e-mail message is determined in response to a sender identifier related to the e-mail message. The system also determines a thread rank for each e-mail thread, where a thread rank associated with an e-mail thread is determined in response to e-mail ranks of each e-mail message associated with each respective e-mail thread. The system then determines an ordering of the e-mail threads based on the thread rank associated with each e-mail thread.

Claims

1. A method of ranking e-mail threads for electronic discovery investigators using an electronic message processing system, the method comprising:

receiving at an electronic message processing system one or more search terms specified via a graphical user interface associated with the electronic message processing system by an e-discovery investigator;

receiving a plurality of e-mail messages at the electronic message processing system obtained by the electronic message processing system from a plurality of mailboxes;

analyzing the plurality of e-mail messages across the plurality of mailboxes with the electronic message processing system to determine a plurality of e-mail threads across the plurality of mailboxes;

determining with the electronic message processing system an e-mail rank associated with each e-mail message in the plurality of e-mail threads across the plurality of mailboxes, wherein an e-mail rank associated with an e-mail message is determined by the electronic message processing system in response to a weighted average determined by the electronic message processing system for a sender identifier related to the e-mail message and a recipient identifier related to the e-mail message, the weighted average determined by the electronic message processing system quantifying text contributed by the sender of the e-mail message;

determining with the electronic message processing system a thread rank for each e-mail thread in the plurality of e-mail threads, wherein a thread rank associated with an e-mail thread is determined by the electronic message processing system in response to a weighted average of e-mail ranks of each e-mail message associated with each respective e-mail thread;

determining with the electronic message processing system an ordering of the plurality of e-mail threads in response to the thread rank associated with each e-mail thread in the plurality of e-mail threads;

determining with the electronic message processing system a set of e-mail threads that satisfy the one or more search terms; and

causing the thread rank for each e-mail thread in the set of e-mail threads to be displayed on a display device using the electronic message processing system to the e-discovery investigator via the graphical user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising causing the ordering of the set of e-mail threads to be displayed on a display device using the electronic message processing system to the e-discovery investigator via the graphical user interface.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the e-mail rank of the e-mail message is further determined by the electronic message processing system in response to a set of message attributes selected from a group consisting of:

a time attribute, a recipient identifier, a number of recipients, a carbon copy recipient identifier, a blind carbon copy recipient identifier, a subject, a body, a quoted text portion, one or more attachments, and a signature block.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with each e-mail message in the plurality of e-mail threads further comprises:

receiving at the electronic message processing system organizational data associated with the sender identifier of the e-mail message; and

determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank of the e-mail message in response to the organizational data.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the organizational data is selected from a group consisting of:

a department associated with the sender identifier, group information associated with the sender identifier, a title associated with the sender identifier, and security information associated with the sender identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises:

processing the e-mail message using the electronic message processing system to determine whether the e-mail message initiated sending of e-mail messages associated with one of the plurality of e-mail threads; and

determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to whether the e-mail message initiated sending of e-mail messages associated with one of the plurality of e-mail threads.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with text contributed to the e-mail message by a sender of the e-mail message and a value associated with text present in the e-mail message before being sent by the sender.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with a distribution list including a recipient of the e-mail message.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises determining with the electronic message processing system the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with an attachment included in the e-mail message.

10. A system of ranking e-mail threads for electronic discovery investigators, the system comprising:

a communications interface configured to;

receive a plurality of e-mail messages obtained from a plurality of mailboxes, and

receive search criteria specified via a graphical user interface by e-discovery investigators; and

a processor coupled to the communications interface and configured to;

analyze the plurality of e-mail messages across the plurality of mailboxes to determine a plurality of e-mail threads across the plurality of mailboxes,

determine an e-mail rank associated with each e-mail message in the plurality of e-mail threads across the plurality of mailboxes, wherein an e-mail rank associated with an e-mail message is determined in response to a weighted average determined by the electronic message processing system for a sender identifier related to the e-mail message and a recipient identifier related to the e-mail message the weighted average determined by the electronic message processing system quantifying text contributed by the sender of the e-mail message,

determine a thread rank for each e-mail thread in the plurality of e-mail threads, wherein a thread rank associated with an e-mail thread is determined in response to a weighted average of e-mail ranks of each e-mail message associated with each respective e-mail thread,

determine an ordering of the plurality of e-mail threads in response to the thread rank associated with each e-mail thread in the plurality of e-mail threads,

determine a set of e-mail threads that satisfy the search criteria, and

cause the thread rank for each e-mail thread in the set of e-mail threads to be displayed to the e-discovery investigators via the graphical user interface.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to cause the ordering of the set of e-mail threads to be displayed to the e-discovery investigators via the graphical user interface.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to determine the e-mail rank of the e-mail message in response to a set of message attributes selected from a group consisting of:

a time attribute, a recipient identifier, a number of recipients, a carbon copy recipient identifier, a blind carbon copy recipient identifier, a subject, a body, a quoted text portion, one or more attachments, and a signature block.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to receive organizational data associated with the sender identifier of the e-mail message, and wherein the processor is configured to determine an e-mail rank associated with each e-mail message in the plurality of e-mail threads in response to the organizational data.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the organizational data is selected from a group consisting of:

a department associated with the sender identifier, group information associated with the sender identifier, a title associated with the sender identifier, and security information associated with the sender identifier.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to process the e-mail message to determine whether the e-mail message initiated sending of e-mail messages associated with one of the plurality of e-mail threads, and wherein the processor is configured to determine the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to whether the e-mail message initiated sending of e-mail messages associated with one of the plurality of e-mail threads.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to determine the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with text contributed to the e-mail message by a sender of the e-mail message and a value associated with text present in the e-mail message before being sent by the sender.

17. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to determine the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with a distribution list including a recipient of the e-mail message.

18. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to determine the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with an attachment included in the e-mail message.

19. A computer-readable storage medium configured to store computer-executable code for ranking e-mail threads for electronic discovery investigators, the computer-readable storage medium comprising:

code for receiving one or more search terms specified via a graphical user interface by an e-discovery investigator;

code for receiving a plurality of e-mail messages obtained from a plurality of mailboxes;

code for analyzing the plurality of e-mail messages across the plurality of mailboxes to determine a plurality of e-mail threads across the plurality of mailboxes;

code for determining an e-mail rank associated with each e-mail message in the plurality of e-mail threads across the plurality of mailboxes, wherein an e-mail rank associated with an e-mail message is determined in response to a weighted average determined by the electronic message processing system for a sender identifier related to the e-mail message and a recipient identifier related to the e-mail message, the weighted average determined by quantifying text contributed by the sender of the e-mail message;

code for determining a thread rank for each e-mail thread in the plurality of e-mail threads, wherein a thread rank associated with an e-mail thread is determined in response to a weighted average of e-mail ranks of each e-mail message associated with each respective e-mail thread;

code for determining an ordering of the plurality of e-mail threads in response to the thread rank associated with each e-mail thread in the plurality of e-mail threads

code for determining a set of e-mail threads that satisfy the one or more search terms; and

code for displaying the thread rank for each e-mail thread in the set of e-mail threads to the e-discovery investigator via the graphical user interface.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 further comprising code for displaying the ordering of the plurality of e-mail threads to the e-discovery investigator via the graphical user interface.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the e-mail rank of the e-mail message is further determined in response to a set of message attributes selected from a group consisting of:

a time attribute, a recipient identifier, a number of recipients, a carbon copy recipient identifier, a blind carbon copy recipient identifier, a subject, a body, a quoted text portion, one or more attachments, and a signature block.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the code for determining the e-mail rank associated with each e-mail message in the plurality of e-mail threads further comprises:

code for receiving organizational data associated with the sender identifier of the e-mail message; and

code for determining the e-mail rank of the e-mail message in response to the organizational data.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 wherein the organizational data is selected from a group consisting of:

a department associated with the sender identifier, group information associated with the sender identifier, a title associated with the sender identifier, and security information associated with the sender identifier.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises:

code for processing the e-mail message to determine whether the e-mail message initiated sending of e-mail messages associated with one of the plurality of e-mail threads; and

code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to whether the e-mail message initiated sending of e-mail messages associated with one of the plurality of e-mail threads.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with text contributed to the e-mail message by a sender of the e-mail message and a value associated with text present in the e-mail message before being sent by the sender.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with a distribution list including a recipient of the e-mail message.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message further comprises code for determining the e-mail rank associated with the e-mail message in response to a value associated with an attachment included in the e-mail message.