Identifying and using identities deemed to be known to a user
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of controlling aspects of communications between a user and senders:
- maintaining, on one or more computers, a list of identities associated with a user;
receiving, at the one or more computers, one or more e-mails from an entity and directed to the user;
detecting, at the one or more computers, one or more actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity, the actions supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user and including at least one of moving at least one of the received e-mails from a first folder to a second folder or leaving at least one of the received e-mails open for a predetermined period of time;
determining, at the one or more computers, that the entity is associated with the user based, at least in part, on the detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails that support an inference that the entity is associated with the user, wherein determining that the entity is associated with the user includes;
associating, at the one or more computers, a score with each of the detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity, the score indicating a strength of the action in supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user;
aggregating, at the one or more computers, the associated scores of detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity;
comparing, at the one or more computers, the aggregated score with a threshold score; and
determining, at the one or more computers, that the entity is associated with the user when the aggregated score exceeds the threshold score;
adding, at the one or more computers, the entity to the maintained list when the entity is determined to be associated with the user based, at least in part, on the detected actions performed on the received one or more e-mails that support an inference that the entity is associated with the user;
receiving, at the one or more computers, one or more e-mails directed to the user;
identifying, at the one or more computers, senders of the received e-mails;
comparing, at the one or more computers, the identified senders to the maintained list of identities associated with the user to determine which of the senders are included in the maintained list;
controlling, using the one or more computers, aspects of communications between the user and the senders based on which of the senders are included in the maintained list.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The people a user is presumed to know or be associated with may be determined using a number of techniques. This information about people that the user knows is used in relation to the user'"'"'s communications. For example, a display of e-mail may only show the user e-mails from known people.
123 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method of controlling aspects of communications between a user and senders:
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maintaining, on one or more computers, a list of identities associated with a user; receiving, at the one or more computers, one or more e-mails from an entity and directed to the user; detecting, at the one or more computers, one or more actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity, the actions supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user and including at least one of moving at least one of the received e-mails from a first folder to a second folder or leaving at least one of the received e-mails open for a predetermined period of time; determining, at the one or more computers, that the entity is associated with the user based, at least in part, on the detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails that support an inference that the entity is associated with the user, wherein determining that the entity is associated with the user includes; associating, at the one or more computers, a score with each of the detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity, the score indicating a strength of the action in supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user; aggregating, at the one or more computers, the associated scores of detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity; comparing, at the one or more computers, the aggregated score with a threshold score; and determining, at the one or more computers, that the entity is associated with the user when the aggregated score exceeds the threshold score; adding, at the one or more computers, the entity to the maintained list when the entity is determined to be associated with the user based, at least in part, on the detected actions performed on the received one or more e-mails that support an inference that the entity is associated with the user; receiving, at the one or more computers, one or more e-mails directed to the user; identifying, at the one or more computers, senders of the received e-mails; comparing, at the one or more computers, the identified senders to the maintained list of identities associated with the user to determine which of the senders are included in the maintained list; controlling, using the one or more computers, aspects of communications between the user and the senders based on which of the senders are included in the maintained list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32)
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13. A computer-usable medium having a computer program embodied thereon for displaying e-mail, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a computer to perform the following operations:
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maintain a list of identities associated with a user; receive one or more emails from an entity and directed to the user; detect one or more actions performed by the user on the received one or more emails from the entity, the actions supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user and including at least one of moving at least one of the received e-mails from a first folder to a second folder or leaving at least one of the received e-mails open for a predetermined period of time; determine that an entity is associated with the user based, at least in part, on detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more emails, wherein determining that the entity is associated with the user includes; associating a score with each of the detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity, the score indicating a strength of the action in supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user; aggregating the associated scores of detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity; comparing the aggregated score with a threshold score; and determining that the entity is associated with the user when the aggregated score exceeds the threshold score; add the person to the maintained list when the entity is determined to be associated with the user based, at least in part, on the detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more emails that support an inference that the entity is associated with the user; receive one or more e-mails directed to the user; identify senders of the received e-mail; compare the identified senders to the maintained list of people associated with the user to determine which of the senders are included on the list; and control aspects of communications between the user and the identified senders based on the determination of which identified senders are included on the list. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, 33, 34, 35)
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25. An apparatus for controlling aspects of communications between a user and senders:
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means for maintaining a list of identities associated with a user; means for receiving one or more emails from an entity and directed to the user; means for detecting one or more actions performed by the user on the received one or more emails from the entity, the user actions supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user and including at least one of moving at least one of the received e-mails from a first folder to a second folder or leaving at least one of the received e-mails open for a predetermined period of time; means for determining that the entity is associated with the user based, at least in part, on detected user actions performed on the received one or more emails that support an inference that the entity is associated with the user, wherein the means for determining that the entity is associated with the user includes; means for associating a score with each of the detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity, the score indicating a strength of the action in supporting an inference that the entity is associated with the user; means for aggregating the associated scores of detected actions performed by the user on the received one or more e-mails from the entity; means for comparing the aggregated score with a threshold score; and means for determining that the entity is associated with the user when the aggregated score exceeds the threshold score; means for adding the entity to the maintained list when the entity is determined to be associated with the use based, at least in part, on detected actions performed on the received one or more emails that support an inference that the entity is associated with the user; means for receiving one or more e-mails directed to the user; means for identifying senders of the received e-mail; means for comparing the identified senders to the maintained list of people associated with the user to determine which of the senders are included on the list; and means for controlling aspects of communications between the user and each identified sender based on the determination whether that identified sender is included in the maintained list.
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Specification