E-mail address inspection

• US 7,836,134 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2006
• Issued: 11/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Pantalone, Brett Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hussain; Imad
• Application Number:
  US11/426,774
• Publication Number:
  US 20070288578A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,603 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

A method for e-mail address inspection may include providing a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received. The method may also include checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses. The method may further include presenting a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

Claims

1. A method for e-mail address inspection, comprising:

providing a list of suggested or predicted addresses on a communications device in response to a partial e-mail address being entered into the communications device by a user, the communications device comprising a processor;

receiving a selection of one of the suggested or predicted addresses from the list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to the user entering a partial email address, wherein the selected one of the suggested or predicted addresses is placed in an address field of a message;

setting a flag in the communications device to indicate that the user has selected one of the suggested or predicted addresses from the list of suggested or predicted addresses, wherein the flag is not set when the complete email address has been typed in by the user so that the user has not selected a suggested or predicted address;

saving the partial e-mail address and the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses by the communications device;

using the saved partial e-mail address to check for other possible matches to the saved partial e-mail address in an electronic address book in response to the flag being set;

presenting a warning to the user by the communications device in response to other possible matches being found in the electronic address book and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain;

and not presenting said warning to the user by the communications device in response to other possible matches not being found in the electronic address book or the selected address being in a predetermined domain.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the e-mail in response to the flag not being set.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein using the partial e-mail address to check for other possible matches comprises using an algorithm to identify similar addresses.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein using the partial e-mail address to check for other possible matches comprises evaluating a difference or distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein using the partial e-mail address to check for other possible matches comprises determining one of a Hamming distance and a Levenshtein distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising checking a domain of the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to at least one other match being detected.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining whether the selected address is an address in a predetermined domain in response to at least one other match being detected.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending the e-mail in response to one of no other matches being detected or the selected address being an address in the predetermined domain.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the e-mail in response to the user selecting to send the e-mail; and

permitting the address to be edited in response to the user selecting to edit the address.

10. A communications device, comprising:

a processor and a memory;

an e-mail module, when executed on the processor, configured to;

provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received; and

receive a selection of one of the suggested or predicted addresses from the list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to the user entering a partial email address, wherein the selected one of the suggested or predicted addresses is placed in an address field of a message

set a flag in the communications device in to indicate that in response to the user has selected selecting one of the addresses from the list of suggested or predicted addresses, wherein the flag is not set when the complete email address has been typed in by the user so that the user has not selected a suggested or predicted address,

wherein the selected one of the suggested or predicted addresses is placed in an address field of a message and the partial email address is saved by the communications device, the saved partial email address being used to check for other possible matches in an electronic address book in the communication device in response to the user selecting one of the suggested or predicted addresses from the list; and

a user interface configured to present a warning in response to other possible matches to the partial email address being found in the electronic address book and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain and to not present said warning in response to other possible matches to the partial email address not being found in the electronic address book or the selected address being in a predetermined domain.

11. The communications device of claim 10, further comprising a memory to save the partial e-mail address and the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses.

12. The communications device of claim 10, further comprising an algorithm stored on the communications device to identify addresses similar to the partial e-mail address.

13. The communications device of claim 10, wherein the e-mail module further comprises a component to evaluate a difference or distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

14. The communications device of claim 10, wherein the e-mail module further comprises a component to determine one of a Hamming distance and a Levenshtein distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

15. The communications device of claim 10, wherein the e-mail module further comprises a component to check a domain of the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to at least one other match being detected.

16. The communications device of claim 10, further comprising a network interface to send the e-mail to a network in response to one of no other matches being detected or the selected address being an address in the predetermined domain.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer useable program code embodied therein, the computer useable program code, when executed on at least one computer, allows the at least one computer to:

provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received;

receive a selection of one of the suggested or predicted addresses from the list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to the user entering a partial email address, wherein the selected one of the suggested or predicted addresses is placed in an address field of a message;

set a flag in the communications device to indicate that the user has selected one of the suggested or predicted addresses from the list of suggested or predicted addresses, wherein the flag is not set when the complete email address has been typed in by the user so that the user has not selected a suggested or predicted address;

save the partial e-mail address and the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses by the communications device;

use the saved partial e-mail address to check for other possible matches to the saved partial e-mail address in an electronic address book in response to the flag being set; and

present a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain and not present a warning in response to no other possible matches or the selected address being in a predetermined domain.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising computer useable program code configured to identify similarities between the partial e-mail address and addresses in the electronic address book.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising computer useable program code configured to evaluate a difference or distance between the partial e-mail address and each address in the electronic address book.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising computer useable program code configured to send the e-mail in response to one of no other matches being detected or the selected address being an address in the predetermined domain.