Methods of managing and accessing e-mail
First Claim
1. A method of managing e-mails in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server, at least one other server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, and wherein the attachments are stored by the other server, the method comprising:
- transmitting, by the client computer, requests to access at least some of the plurality of e-mails to the at least one e-mail server, wherein the requested e-mails are intercepted if the e-mails individually include having an attachment identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifier;
receiving individually, at the client computer in response to the requests, full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails having attachments thereof identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifiers, the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails comprising all of the content of the e-mails, including the attachments stored in the other server such that the attachments replace the shortcut identifiers at the client computer in the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails; and
storing, by the client computer, the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails, including the attachments that were received at the client computer in response to the request.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for managing e-mails involve an e-mail server that maintains a data set identifying e-mails, and that implements a shortcut feature whereby at least a portion of an e-mail identified in the data set is identified by a shortcut identifier, so that the at least a portion of the e-mail is not stored in the data set. One method involves replicating a copy of at least some of the e-mails onto the client computer when the client computer is coupled to the e-mail server. Another method involves accessing a full copy of an e-mail while a client computer is not in communication with the e-mail server. Another method involves maintaining the shortcut identifier for an e-mail in the data set so that the data set is not updated with a full copy of the e-mail when a user requests the e-mail.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of managing e-mails in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server, at least one other server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, and wherein the attachments are stored by the other server, the method comprising:
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transmitting, by the client computer, requests to access at least some of the plurality of e-mails to the at least one e-mail server, wherein the requested e-mails are intercepted if the e-mails individually include having an attachment identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifier; receiving individually, at the client computer in response to the requests, full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails having attachments thereof identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifiers, the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails comprising all of the content of the e-mails, including the attachments stored in the other server such that the attachments replace the shortcut identifiers at the client computer in the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails; and storing, by the client computer, the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails, including the attachments that were received at the client computer in response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of accessing at least one e-mail in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, wherein full copies of the identified e-mails are stored remotely from the data set by at least one other server, wherein the e-mail server and the other server are separate servers, wherein the e-mail server is in communication with the other server over a network, the method comprising:
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transmitting, by the client computer, requests to access at least some of the plurality of e-mails to the at least one e-mail server, wherein the requested e-mails are intercepted if the e-mails individually include having an attachment identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifier; receiving individually, at the client computer, the full copies of the requested e-mails via the other server, the full copies of the requested e-mails comprising all of the content of the e-mails, including the attachments identified in the data set by the shortcut identifiers such that the attachments replace the shortcut identifiers at the client computer in the full copies of the e-mails; and accessing the full copies of the requested e-mails, including the attachments that were received at the client computer in response to the requests, from the client computer while the client computer is not in communication with either the e-mail server or the other server. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of managing e-mails in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server, at least one other server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server and the other server are separate servers, wherein the e-mail server is in communication with the other server over a network, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, and wherein the attachments are stored by the other server, the method comprising:
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receiving, at the e-mail server, requests to access at least some of the plurality of e-mails having attachments individually identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifier; sending in response to the requests, via the e-mail server, the attachments to the client computer; and maintaining, by the at least one e-mail server, the shortcut identifiers for the e-mails in the data set so that the data set is not updated to include the attachments. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of managing e-mails in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server, at least one other server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, and wherein the attachments are stored by the other server, the method comprising:
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receiving, by the client computer, at least partial copies of at least some of the plurality of e-mails identified in the data set, the at least some of the plurality of e-mails comprising the at least one e-mail, wherein the at least partial copies of the least some of the plurality of e-mails received by the client computer comprises the attachments that are identified in the data set by the shortcut identifiers, wherein the attachments are received automatically and not in response to a user of the client computer accessing the e-mails; and storing the partial copies by the client computer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed, perform a method of managing e-mails in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server, at least one other server and at least one client computer, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, and wherein the attachments are stored by the other server, the method comprising:
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transmitting, by the client computer, requests to access at least some of the plurality of e-mails to the at least one e-mail server, wherein the requested e-mails are intercepted if the e-mails individually include having an attachment identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifier; receiving individually, at the client computer in response to the requests, full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails having attachments thereof identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifiers, the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails comprising all of the content of the e-mails, including the attachments stored in the other server such that the attachments replace the shortcut identifiers at the client computer in the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails; and storing, by the client computer, the full copies of the at least some of the plurality of e-mails, including the attachments that were received at the client computer in response to the request.
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24. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed, perform a method of accessing at least one e-mail in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, wherein a full copies of the identified e-mails are is stored remotely from the data set by at least one other server, wherein the e-mail server and the other server are separate servers, wherein the e-mail server is in communication with the other server over a network, the method comprising:
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transmitting, by the client computer, requests to access at least some of the plurality of e-mails to the at least one e-mail server, wherein the requested e-mails are intercepted if the e-mails individually include having an attachment thereof identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifier; receiving individually, at the client computer, the full copies of the requested e-mails via the other server, the full copies of the requested e-mails comprising all of the content of the e-mails, including the attachments identified in the data set by the shortcut identifiers such that the attachments replace the shortcut identifiers at the client computer in the full copies of the e-mails; and accessing the full copies of the requested e-mails, including the attachments that were received at the client computer in response to the requests, from the client computer while the client computer is not in communication with either the e-mail server or the other server.
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25. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed, perform a method of managing e-mails in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server, at least one other server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server and the other server are separate servers, wherein the e-mail server is in communication with the other server over a network, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, and wherein the attachments are stored by the other server, the method comprising:
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receiving, at the e-mail server, requests to access at least some of the plurality of e-mails having attachments individually identified in the data set by the associated shortcut identifier; sending in response to the requests, via the e-mail server, the attachments to the client computer; and maintaining, by the at least one e-mail server, the shortcut identifiers for the e-mails in the data set so that the data set is not updated to include the attachments.
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26. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed, perform a method of managing e-mails in a computer system comprising at least one e-mail server, at least one other server and at least one client computer, wherein the e-mail server maintains a data set identifying a plurality of e-mails managed by the e-mail server, wherein at least some of the plurality of e-mails are individually identified in the data set by an associated shortcut identifier, and wherein the attachments are stored by the other server, the method comprising:
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receiving, by the client computer, at least partial copies of at least some of the plurality of e-mails identified in the data set, wherein the at least partial copies of the least some of the plurality of e-mails received by the client computer comprise the attachments that are identified in the data set by the shortcut identifiers, wherein the attachments are received automatically and not in response to a user of the client computer accessing the e-mails; and storing the partial copies by the client computer.
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Specification