Email conversation management system
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Accused Products
Abstract
An email system has a repository of messages. The message repository is searched to identify one or more messages relevant to a search query. Each identified message is associated with a conversation, and each such conversation has one or more messages and a unique conversation identifier. A set of conversation identifiers associated with the identified messages is collected and a list of conversations is created, where conversation in the list corresponds to a respective conversation identifier in the set of conversation identifiers.
164 Citations
40 Claims
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1-14. -14. (canceled)
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15. A method of searching conversations, comprising:
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receiving a search query;
identifying a conversation relevant to the search query, the conversation having one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria and a respective conversation identifier; and
returning the conversation as a search result to the search query. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of searching messages, comprising:
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searching a message repository to identify one or more messages relevant to a search query, wherein each identified message is associated with a respective conversation of a plurality of conversations, each conversation comprising one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria, and having a respective conversation identifier;
identifying the respective conversation identifiers of the conversations associated with the one or more identified messages;
creating a list of one or more conversations, each of the conversations in the list corresponding to a respective identified conversation identifier; and
producing at least a portion of the list of one or more conversations as the search result. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A method of processing messages, comprising:
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receiving a message;
associating a unique message id with the message;
associating the message to a respective conversation according to a predefined set of criteria;
storing an association between the message id and the respective conversation in a database structure. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method of processing messages, comprising:
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receiving an message;
associating the message with a conversation of a plurality of conversations, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier and comprising one or more messages;
storing information from the message in an index;
storing information from the message in a data structure corresponding to the respective conversation identifier;
searching the index to identify one or more messages relevant to a search query;
identifying from the data structure a list of conversations, the list being at least a subset of conversations to which the relevant messages are associated; and
producing the list of conversations as the search result. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A conversation-based message system, comprising:
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a message store that stores messages, each message having associated information, including conversation information;
a conversation matching module that matches at least one of a plurality of incoming messages to a respective conversation, the respective conversation having a respective conversation identifier and at least one message;
a conversation search unit that returns a list of conversations in response to a search query; and
a return unit that transmits the list of conversations. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. A computer program product, for use with a computer system, the computer program product comprising:
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instructions for receiving a search query;
instructions for identifying a conversation relevant to the search query, the conversation having one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria and a respective conversation identifier; and
instructions for returning the conversation as a search result to the search query. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer program product, for use in conjunction with a computer system, for searching messages, comprising:
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instructions for searching a message repository to identify one or more messages relevant to a search query, wherein each identified message is associated with a respective conversation of a plurality of conversations, each conversation comprising one or more messages and having a respective conversation identifier;
instructions for identifying conversation identifiers of the conversations associated with the identified messages;
instructions for creating a list of one or more conversations, each of the one or more conversations corresponding to a respective identified conversation identifier; and
instructions for producing the list of conversations as the search result.
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38. A system for searching messages, comprising:
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means for receiving an message;
means for associating the message with a conversation of a plurality of conversations, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier, and wherein each conversation comprises one or more messages;
means for storing information from the message in an index;
means for storing in a data structure corresponding to the respective conversation identifier information from the message;
means for searching the index to identify one or more messages that relevant to a search query;
means for identifying from the data structure a list including at least a subset of conversations to which the one or more identified messages are associated; and
means for producing the list of conversations as the search result. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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Specification