System and method for searching and retrieving related messages

• US 7,962,508 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2008
• Issued: 06/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kerr, Bernard J., Rohall, Steven L., Gruen, Daniel M., Moody, Paul B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Uyen T.
• Application Number:
  US12/122,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20080281813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,124 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A system and method is provided which utilizes a threading service to offer enhanced features for a document management system including an email system. Various enhanced email features may be provided through one or more of the following components: a delete module, a reply module, a profile module, and a search module. The delete module enables a user to delete a selected message, a set of related messages, or the whole set except for the selected message. The reply module enables a user to send a reply message to all addresses associated and involved with an entire set of related messages. The profile module enables a dynamic interest profile to contain all relevant information from an outgoing message and a set of messages related to the outgoing message. The search module enables search results to include documents which match the user'"'"'s query as well as documents related to the documents which match the user'"'"'s query.

Claims

1. A system for searching a plurality of electronic messages exchanged between a plurality of users in one or more conversation threads, the system comprising:

a graphical user interface that (i) receives a search query including one or more search terms from a user, (ii) enables the user to select one or more search options, and (iii) presents a search result to the user, wherein the graphical user interface includes one or more views; and

a search module that, responsive to the selection of one or more search options and/or the received search query, determines the search result, wherein the search result includes (i) one or more electronic messages that satisfy the search query by including at least one of the one or more search terms and (ii) one or more additional electronic messages that do not include any of the one or more search terms and are included in at least one conversation thread that includes at least one of the one or more electronic messages that satisfy the search query.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said search result further comprises, for a given conversation thread that includes at least one of the one or more electronic messages that satisfy the search query, an initial electronic message, wherein the initial electronic message was temporally the first message in the given conversation thread.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said search result further comprises an indication, for each respective electronic message included in the search result, whether the respective electronic message satisfies the search query.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said search result further comprises an indication, for each respective electronic message included in the search result, whether the respective electronic message is related to an electronic message that satisfies the search query.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said search result further comprises a selectable indicia associated with each of the at least one conversation thread, and wherein in response to a user selection of the selectable indicia associated with the initial electronic message via the graphical user interface the search result is collapsed by removing the electronic messages included in the given conversation thread from the search result, with the exception of the initial electronic message.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a conversation thread includes an initial electronic message that begins the conversation thread, a series of additional electronic messages that reply to the initial electronic message, and further electronic messages that reply to one or more of the electronic messages included in the series of additional electronic messages that reply to the initial electronic message.