System and method for verifying delivery and integrity of electronic messages
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method of transmitting a message from a sender to a recipient and providing an indication that the message was opened by the recipient, comprising:
- receiving the message at a server from the sender, the server being displaced from the recipient,adding a link to the message by the server, the link configured to execute when the message is opened at the recipient to provide an indication that the message has been opened by a recipient,transmitting the message and the link from the server to the recipient,executing the link when the message is opened at the recipient to control the server to provide an indication that the message has been opened at the recipient,providing an authenticatible information related to the message, including the indication of the opening of the message at the recipient, at the server, andtransmitting the indication of the opening of the message at the recipient, and the authenticatible information from the server to the sender.
1 Assignment
Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
In order to provide third party verification of the content and delivery of an electronic message such as an e-snail, a server receives the e-mail intended to be sent or forwarded to a specified addressee, and “tags” the message to indicate that it is “registered” with the provider of the service. The server then establishes a direct telnet connection with the addressee'"'"'s Mail User Agent (MUA), and transmits the tagged email to the addressee'"'"'s MUA, as well as to the MUA'"'"'s of any other addressees. After receiving responses from the receiving MUA'"'"'s that the message was successfully received, the server then creates and forwards to the message originator an electronic receipt. The receipt includes one or more, and preferably all of, the following: the original message including any original attachments; a delivery success/failure table listing which addressee'"'"'s MUA'"'"'s successfully received the message and at what time, and for which MUA'"'"'s there was a delivery failure; and a digital signature corresponding to the message and attachments. By receiving the receipt at a later date and verifying that the digital signature matches the message and related information, the operators of the system can provide independent third party verification that the receipt is a genuine product of their system and that the information pertaining to content and delivery of the message is accurate, without the need to archive either the original message or the receipt.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of transmitting a message from a sender to a recipient and providing an indication that the message was opened by the recipient, comprising:
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receiving the message at a server from the sender, the server being displaced from the recipient, adding a link to the message by the server, the link configured to execute when the message is opened at the recipient to provide an indication that the message has been opened by a recipient, transmitting the message and the link from the server to the recipient, executing the link when the message is opened at the recipient to control the server to provide an indication that the message has been opened at the recipient, providing an authenticatible information related to the message, including the indication of the opening of the message at the recipient, at the server, and transmitting the indication of the opening of the message at the recipient, and the authenticatible information from the server to the sender. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of transmitting a message from a sender to a recipient through a server displaced from the recipient, comprising:
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receiving the message at the server from the sender, transmitting the message from the server to the recipient through a network including at least one interim network station, the message including an executable link for indicating the opening of the message at the recipient, the executable link configured to automatically execute when the message is opened at the recipient, executing the link to provide an indication at the server that the message was opened by the recipient when the recipient opens the message, associating the indication that the message has been opened by the recipient with the message at the server, receiving a dialog at the server including details of the transmission of the message from the server through the network to the recipient, providing authenticatible information related to the message, the indication of the opening of the message at the recipient, and the dialog, and transmitting to the sender from the server the message, including the indication of the opening of the message at the recipient, the dialog, and the authenticatible information. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of transmitting a message from a sender to a recipient through a server displaced from the recipient, including the steps at the server of:
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receiving the message at the server from the sender, transmitting the message from the server to the recipient through a network having at least one interim station, the message including an executable link added at the server configured to automatically execute when the message is opened by a recipient to indicate that the message has been opened by the recipient, executing the link when the message is opened by the recipient causing an indication that the message has been opened to be recorded by the server and transmitting the message from the recipient to the server; receiving the message and a list of the interim stations which receive the message during the transmission of the message from the server to the recipient and back to the server at the server, combining the message and the list of interim stations, providing an authenticatible information based on the combination of the message and the list of interim stations, transmitting to the sender from the server the message and the list of interim stations and the authenticatible information. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of transmitting a message from a sender to a recipient through a server displaced from the recipient, comprising:
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receiving the message from the sender, assigning the message a unique identification number, providing a particular tag which includes a unique identification of the message and the recipient, transmitting the message to a recipient, the message including an executable link configured to automatically execute when the message is opened to control the server to provide an indication that the message has been opened, storing in a database the relationship between the sender and the unique identification of the sender and the relationship between the message and the unique identification of the message, extracting the identification of the sender, extracting the unique identification of the message and the recipient from the data, and transmitting to the sender the indication that the message has been opened at the recipient in a particular format. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A system for transmitting a message from an originating processor to a recipient processor in an electronic mail system and providing an indication that the message was opened by the recipient processor, comprising:
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a server in electronic communication in the electronic mail system, the server receiving the message from the originating processor and adding a link to the message before transmitting the message and link to the recipient processor, the link being configured to execute automatically when the message is opened at the recipient processor to control the server to provide an indication at the server that the message has been opened at the recipient processor; and wherein the server constructs authenticatible information related to the message; and wherein the server transmits the indication of the opening of the message at the recipient processor and the authenticatible information to the originating processor. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification