Method for providing address change notification in an electronic message forwarding system

• US 7,558,831 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2007
• Issued: 07/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cufer Asset Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Turnpike Data Processing LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Quine, Douglas B.
• Primary Examiner(s): DINH, KHANH Q
• Application Number:
  US11/716,219
• Publication Number:
  US 20070156831A1
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/206, 709/226, 709/219, 709/225, 709/238, 709/208, 709/220, 709/227, 707/5, 707/10, 707/100, 707/102
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A method and system for providing address change notification in an e-mail forwarding system by providing a pre-generated e-mail address change notification to recipients selected during registration in the e-mail forwarding system. The e-mail forwarding system operating when a message is received at an e-mail forwarding computer, the message identifying the first disfavored e-mail address. The e-mail forwarding computer parses the first e-mail address from the message to determine if there is a second preferred forwarding e-mail address associated with the first e-mail address. If there is a second e-mail address associated with the first e-mail address, the e-mail forwarding computer sends the e-mail message to a third computer associated with the second e-mail address.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by an e-mail forwarding service, one or more e-mail address change notification recipients to be notified of a forwarding e-mail address corresponding to a disfavored e-mail address, the one or more e-mail address change notification recipients identified from an e-mail address book;

confirming, by the e-mail forwarding service, the forwarding e-mail address is correct prior to notifying the e-mail address change notification recipients of the forwarding e-mail address, wherein the confirming includes sending a test message to the forwarding e-mail address; and

sending, by the e-mail forwarding service, an e-mail address change notification to the identified one or more e-mail address change notification recipients, the e-mail address change notification including at least the forwarding e-mail address corresponding to the disfavored e-mail address and a description of the e-mail forwarding service.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, providing a link to a subscriber registration interface in the e-mail address change notification to enable the identified one or more e-mail address change notification recipients to navigate to a web page associated with the e-mail forwarding service to facilitate registration.

3. A method comprising:

receiving, by an e-mail forwarding service having an e-mail address, a rejected e-mail message that was sent from a sending e-mail address to a disfavored e-mail address, the sending e-mail address and the disfavored e-mail address being different than the e-mail forwarding service e-mail address;

extracting, by the e-mail forwarding service, the disfavored e-mail address from the rejected e-mail message;

determining, by the e-mail forwarding service, if the extracted disfavored e-mail address corresponds to a forwarding e-mail address confirmed by the e-mail forwarding service as a confirmed forwarding e-mail address via transmission of a test message to the forwarding e-mail address; and

sending, by the e-mail forwarding service, a notification e-mail to the sending e-mail address, the notification e-mail including a result of the determination.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising storing, by the e-mail forwarding service, the rejected e-mail message in an archival database in response to a determination that the extracted disfavored e-mail address does not correspond to a forwarding e-mail address.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising forwarding, by the e-mail forwarding service, the rejected e-mail message to the forwarding e-mail address in response to a determination that the extracted disfavored e-mail address corresponds to the forwarding e-mail address.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising repeating the determining after a passage of a prescribed period of time in response to a determination that the extracted disfavored e-mail address does not correspond to a forwarding e-mail address.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein the determining comprises searching a look up table for the disfavored e-mail address and the forwarding e-mail address.

8. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer readable medium; and

a plurality of programming instructions stored on the computer readable medium, wherein the plurality of programming instructions are designed to enable a device to;

store subscriber information in a database wherein the subscriber information includes a new e-mail address of a subscriber and an old e-mail address the subscriber;

send a test message to the new e-mail address of the subscriber to verify the new e-mail address of the subscriber is correct; and

send a notification to one or more correspondents to notify the one or more correspondents of the new e-mail address of the subscriber and an e-mail forwarding service, wherein the one or more correspondents are selected from an e-mail address book of the subscriber, and wherein the notification includes an explanation of the e-mail forwarding service.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the plurality of programming instructions are further designed to enable the device to include a link to a subscriber registration interface in the notification, wherein the link is configured to enable the one or more correspondents to navigate to a web page associated with the e-mail forwarding service.

10. A system comprising:

a memory configured to store at least a new e-mail address and at least an obsolete e-mail address, wherein the new e-mail address corresponds to the obsolete e-mail address and has been confirmed as a valid e-mail address via a test message transmitted to the new e-mail address;

a communication interface configured to receive an e-mail message, wherein the e-mail message was addressed to a defunct e-mail address, and further configured to transmit a notification to a sender email address; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the communication interface, and configured to parse the received e-mail message to obtain the defunct e-mail address, to compare the defunct e-mail address with the obsolete e-mail address in the memory to determine if the defunct e-mail address corresponds to the stored obsolete e-mail address, and to transmit the notification the sender email address of the received email message, based at least in part on the result of the determination.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising an archival database to store the e-mail message in response to a determination that the defunct e-mail address does not correspond to the obsolete e-mail address.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to compare the defunct e-mail address with one or more additional obsolete e-mail addresses in the memory, wherein the one or more additional obsolete e-mail addresses were added to the memory subsequent to the receipt of the e-mail message.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the transmitter and the processor are further configured to cooperate to transmit the e-mail message to the new e-mail address in response to a determination that the defunct e-mail address corresponds to the obsolete e-mail address.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the memory is configured to store the new e-mail address and the obsolete e-mail address in a look up table.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the look up table includes dynamic parameters adapted to allow a subscriber to have an account including one or more obsolete e-mail addresses that are associated with one or more forwarding e-mail addresses.