METHODS AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING ELECTRONIC MESSAGES

• US 20150052177A1
• Filed: 08/16/2013
• Published: 02/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sanebox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sanebox, Inc.
• Inventors: Roseman, Stuart, Lange, Kristoffer, Gloudon, Jason, Yanowitz, Jason, Kovacs, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 9,176,970 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/822
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/16 File or folder operations, e.g. details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for processing electronic messages. The system includes a communications module configured to interoperate with a plurality of email servers and coupled to a message processing module. The message processing module is configured to identify inbound messages and process such messages based on statistical analysis, user training, and shared rules. The system is compatible with most existing email clients and servers. The invention also relates to methods for processing messages and methods for training message processing systems.

Claims

1. A method for processing electronic messages, comprising:

in a microprocessor, connecting to a message server;

accessing a user account;

retrieving a plurality of source message identifiers from the message server, each source being associated with a source folder;

selecting a target message identifier from the plurality of source messages identifiers;

determining a target folder associated with the account; and

instructing the message server to copy the target message from the source folder to the target folder.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

instructing the message server to delete the message associated with the target message identifier from the source folder.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing a processed message record in a database, the processed message record having a message identifier associated with the target message identifier and a folder identifier associated with the target folder.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

fetching a user account record from a database, the account record having a plurality of authentication tokens; and

authenticating with the message server using the plurality of authentication tokens.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein at least one of the plurality of authentication tokens is encrypted.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

fetching a source folder record from a database, the source folder record having a folder identifier associated with the source folder and a last message identifier,

wherein retrieving a plurality of source message identifiers is based upon the last message identifier.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a notification from the message server in response to a message being delivered to the source folder.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

retrieving from the message server metadata associated with the target message identifier,

wherein the target folder is determined by comparing the target message metadata to a plurality of training records.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the target folder is determined by comparing the target message to a shared rule.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting that a folder within the account was renamed; and

storing a folder record, the folder record having a folder identifier associated with the renamed folder.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein detecting that a folder within the account was renamed comprises:

fetching a plurality of folder records from a database, each folder record having a last known folder identifier;

retrieving a plurality of current folder identifiers from the message server; and

comparing the plurality of last known folder identifiers to the plurality of current folder identifiers.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a training folder within the account;

retrieving a first plurality of message identifiers from the message server, each message having an identifier and being associated within the training folder;

retrieving a second plurality of message identifiers from the message server, each message having an identifier and being associated within the training folder;

detecting a trained message identifier included in the second plurality of messages and not included in the first plurality of messages;

retrieving metadata associated with the trained message identifier; and

storing a training record, the training record having a folder identifier associated with the training folder identifier and metadata associated with the trained message metadata.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the training record metadata includes the sender of the trained message.

14. A computer system, comprising:

a microprocessor; and

an application executing on the microprocessor and comprising;

a communications module configured to;

retrieve a plurality of message identifiers from a message server; and

instruct the message server to copy a message from a first folder to a second folder; and

a message processing module coupled to the communications module and configured to;

determine a source folder associated with user account within an message server;

retrieve a plurality of source message identifiers using the communications module, each source message being associated with the source folder;

select a target message identifier from the plurality of source message identifiers;

determine a target folder associated with the user account; and

instruct the message server to copy a message associated with the target message identifier from the source folder to the target folder.

15. The system of claim 14, the application further comprising:

a database module configured to store a processed message records in a database, each processed message record having a message identifier and a folder identifier,

wherein the message processing module is coupled to the database module and further configured to store processed message record associated with the target message identifier and the target folder.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the database module is further configured to store training records to the database, each training record having a folder identifier and metadata, and the message processing module is further configured to:

determine a training folder associated within the account;

retrieve a first plurality of message identifiers from the message server, each message having an identifier and being associated within the training folder;

retrieve a second plurality of message identifiers from the message server, each message having an identifier and being associated within the training folder;

detect a trained message identifier included in the second plurality of messages and not included in the first plurality of messages;

retrieve metadata associated with the trained message identifier; and

store a training record using the database module, the training record folder identifier associated with the training folder and the training record metadata associated with the trained message metadata.

17. A computer program product embodied on a computer medium, the computer program product comprising instructions for:

connecting to a message server;

accessing a user account;

determining a source folder associated with the user account;

retrieving a plurality of source messages from the message server, each source message having an identifier and being associated within the source folder;

selecting a target message from the plurality of source messages;

determining a target folder associated with the account; and

instructing the message server to copy the target message from the source folder to the target folder.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising instructions for:

detecting that a folder within the account was renamed; and

storing a folder record associated with the renamed folder.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising instructions for:

determining a training folder within the account;

retrieving a first plurality of message identifiers from the message server, each message having an identifier and being associated within the training folder;

retrieving a second plurality of message identifiers from the message server, each message having an identifier and being associated within the training folder;

detecting a trained message identifier included in the second plurality of messages and not included in the first plurality of messages;

retrieving metadata associated with the trained message identifier; and

storing a training record, the training record having a folder identifier associated with the training folder and metadata associated with the trained message metadata.