Email communications system with wireless device move reconciliation features and related methods

• US 8,880,618 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2008
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Roy, Shaibal
• Primary Examiner(s): Whipple, Brian P
• Application Number:
  US12/030,994
• Publication Number:
  US 20080201439A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,455 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 707/102
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication

Abstract

An email communications system for operating over a communications network may include an email server having a server inbox for receiving and storing email via the communications network and having a server email storage folder. The system may further include at least one wireless email communications device having a device inbox, and an email proxy server for communicating with the email server and the at least one wireless email communications device via the communications network. The email proxy server may be for forwarding email from the server inbox to the device inbox, detecting a deletion of a given email from the server inbox, and if the deletion of the given email from the server inbox is not preceded by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, then causing the wireless email communications device to also delete the given email from the device inbox based thereon.

Claims

1. An electronic mail (email) communications system for operating over a communications network, the email communications system comprising:

an email server having a server inbox for receiving and storing email via the communications network and having a server email storage folder;

at least one wireless email communications device having a device inbox; and

an email proxy server for communicating with said email server and said at least one wireless email communications device via the communications network for

forwarding email from the server inbox to the device inbox,

detecting a deletion of a given email from the server inbox,

determining if the detected deletion of the given email from the server inbox was accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, and

if the deletion of the given email from the server inbox is not accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, then causing said wireless email communications device to also delete the given email from the device inbox based thereon.

2. The email communications system of claim 1 wherein said at least one wireless email communications device also has a device email storage folder;

and wherein, if the deletion of the given email from the sever inbox is accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, then said email proxy server also causes said wireless email communications device to copy the given email from the device inbox to the device email storage folder and delete the given email from the device inbox.

3. The email communications system of claim 2 wherein the given email has at least one email processing attribute associated therewith at said email server, and wherein said email proxy server cooperates with said at least one wireless email communications device to associate the at least one email processing attribute with the given email when copied to the device email storage folder.

4. The email communications system of claim 3 wherein the at least one email processing attribute comprises a user read attribute.

5. The email communications system of claim 3 wherein the at least one email processing attribute comprises a user association attribute.

6. The email communications system of claim 1 further comprising a wireless communications network over which said email proxy server and said wireless email communications device communicate.

7. The email communications system of claim 1 wherein said email proxy server also causes the email server to delete email deleted from said wireless email communications device.

8. An electronic mail (email) proxy server for communicating with an email server and at least one wireless email communications device via a communications network, the email server having a server inbox for receiving and storing email via the communications network and having a server email storage folder, and the at least one wireless email communications device having a device inbox, the email proxy server comprising:

a mail user agent (MUA) module for forwarding email from the server inbox to the device inbox; and

a mail reconciliation module for

detecting a deletion of a given email from the server inbox,

determining if the detected deletion of the given email from the server inbox was accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, and

if the deletion of the given email from the server inbox is not accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, then causing the wireless email communications device to also delete the given email from the device inbox based thereon.

9. The email proxy server of claim 8 wherein said at least one wireless email communications device also has a device email storage folder;

and wherein, if the deletion of the given email from the sever inbox is accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, then said mail reconciliation module also causes said wireless email communications device to copy the given email from the device inbox to the device email storage folder and delete the given email from the device inbox.

10. The email proxy server of claim 9 wherein the given email has at least one email processing attribute associated therewith at said email server, and wherein said mail reconciliation module cooperates with said at least one wireless email communications device to associate the at least one email processing attribute with the given email when copied to the device email storage folder.

11. The email proxy server of claim 10 wherein the at least one email processing attribute comprises a user read attribute.

12. The email proxy server of claim 10 wherein the at least one email processing attribute comprises a user association attribute.

13. The email proxy server of claim 8 wherein said mail reconciliation module also causes the email server to delete email deleted from said wireless email communications device.

14. An electronic mail (email) communications method comprising:

receiving and storing email in a server inbox of an email server via a communications network, the email server also having a server email storage folder;

forwarding email from the server inbox to a device inbox on at least one wireless email communications device;

detecting a deletion of a given email from the server inbox;

determining if the detected deletion of the given email from the server inbox was accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder; and

if the deletion of the given email from the server inbox is not accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, then causing the wireless email communications device to also delete the given email from the device inbox based thereon.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the at least one wireless email communications device also has a device email storage folder;

and wherein, if the deletion of the given email from the sever inbox is accompanied by copying of the given email to the server email storage folder, then also causing the wireless email communications device to copy the given email from the device inbox to the device email storage folder and delete the given email from the device inbox.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the given email has at least one email processing attribute associated therewith at the email server, and further comprising associating the at least one email processing attribute with the given email when copied to the device email storage folder.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the at least one email processing attribute comprises a user read attribute.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the at least one email processing attribute comprises a user association attribute.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein forwarding comprises forwarding email from the server inbox to the device inbox on at least one wireless email communications device via a wireless communications network.

20. The method of claim 14 further comprising causing the email server to delete email deleted from the wireless email communications device.