§
Luxuse
Patent Intelligence
Sign In
← Back to Patent Explorer
EP0720333A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Message filtering techniques

Assignee: AT&T Inc
•
Filing: 1995-11-21
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2015-11-21
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract Techniques for reducing the amount of junk e-mail received by a user of an e-mail system. A recipient description containing non-address information is added to an e-mail message. The user has an e-mail filter which has access to information which provides a model of the user. The e-mail filter uses the non-address information and the model information to determine whether the e-mail message should be provided to the user. The e-mail filter further has access to information which provides models of the user's correspondents. If the filter does not provide the message to the user, it uses the non-address information and the model information of the user's correspondents to determine who the message might be forwarded to. A sender of e-mail can also use the model information of the sender's correspondents together with the non-address information to determine who the message should be sent to. The techniques are used in a system for locating expertise.

Inventors

  • 👤 Leonard Mark Canale
  • 👤 Allen E. Milewski
  • 👤 Henry Alexander Kautz
  • 👤 Bart Selman

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-27 07:52
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06Q; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/10; G06Q10/107; H; H04; H04L; H04L51/00; H04L51/21; H04L51/212

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim 102 words
Apparatus for automatically limiting the recipients of a message sent via a mail system implemented in a computer system, the apparatus comprising: recipient specifying means in the message which uses non-address information to specify the recipients of the message; and message filtering means in the computer system having access to recipient information contained therein about at least one of the potential recipients and including means responsive to the non-address information and to the recipient information for providing the message to the potential recipient if the non-address information and the recipient information together indicate that the potential recipient is to receive the message.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 23 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 1 further comprising: means for analyzing files belonging to the potential recipient to obtain the recipient information.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 29 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein: the non-address information specifies an area of expertise; and the recipient information indicates an area of expertise of the potential recipient.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 20 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein: the message filtering means is associated with a sender of the message.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 21 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein: the message filtering means is associated with the potential recipient of the message.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 56 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, claim 4, or claim 5 wherein: the recipient information includes further recipient information about other potential recipients; and the message filtering means further uses the non-address information and the further recipient information to determine which of the other potential recipients is to receive the message.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 37 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein: the message filtering means further includes means for sending a referral message to a source of the message when the message filtering means provides the message to the user.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 17 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 7 wherein: the referral message contains an identification of the user.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 43 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 7 wherein: the message is received by a plurality of users; the message includes information specifying the users who received the message; and the referral message further contains the information specifying the users who received the message.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 41 words
The apparatus set forth in claim 6 wherein: the message includes information specifying the users who received the message; and the message filtration means adds information about the other potential recipients to the information specifying the users who received the message.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

No citation records indexed.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag