US7298864B2 — Digital watermarks as a gateway and control mecha…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 71 words

An electronic messaging system including a mail server which sends and receives messages, said mail server including a watermark reading program that reads watermarks in said messages, the program operable to read watermarks in documents that form at least part of the messages and operable to read watermarks in documents attached to the messages, and the program operable to control distribution of said messages in response to data in said watermarks.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 71 words

An electronic messaging system including a mail server which sends and receives messages, said mail server including a watermark reading program that reads watermarks in said messages, the program operable to read watermarks in documents that form at least part of the messages and operable to read watermarks in documents attached to the messages, and the program operable to control distribution of said messages in response to data in said watermarks.

Claim 3

Independent Claim 95 words

A system that includes an e-mail server connected to the Internet, the system comprising: means for transmitting messages from an individual user to said e-mail server, watermark detecting means for detecting and reading watermarks in e-mail messages at the server after the messages are sent from the user but before such messages are transmitted from said e-mail server to the Internet, means for preventing the transmission of messages from said e-mail server to the Internet if said watermark detecting means detects a watermark which has an indication that the message including said watermark is confidential.

Claim 4

Independent Claim 95 words

A system that includes an e-mail server connected to the Internet, the system comprising: means for transmitting messages from an individual user to said e-mail server, watermark detecting means for detecting and reading watermarks in e-mail messages at the server after the messages are sent from the user but before such messages are transmitted from said e-mail server to the Internet, means for preventing the transmission of messages from said e-mail server to the Internet if said watermark detecting means detects a watermark which has an indication that the message including said watermark is confidential.

Claim 5

Independent Claim 96 words

A system for controlling the distribution of electronic messages that include confidential information, each electronic message having confidential information including a digital watermark carrying data that indicates that the message is confidential, a server which transmits and receives messages, said server including a watermark reading program that reads watermarks in messages and controls the distribution of such messages in accordance with the data carried by watermarks in the messages, the program operable to read watermarks in documents that form at least part of the messages and operable to read watermarks in documents attached to the messages.

Claim 6

Independent Claim 96 words

A system for controlling the distribution of electronic messages that include confidential information, each electronic message having confidential information including a digital watermark carrying data that indicates that the message is confidential, a server which transmits and receives messages, said server including a watermark reading program that reads watermarks in messages and controls the distribution of such messages in accordance with the data carried by watermarks in the messages, the program operable to read watermarks in documents that form at least part of the messages and operable to read watermarks in documents attached to the messages.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 14 words

The system recited in claim 3 where the messages are transmitted over the Internet.

Claim 8

Independent Claim 85 words

A method of controlling the distribution of electronic messages that include confidential information, said messages carrying digital watermarks that carry data indicating that the message includes confidential information, passing messages to a watermark detecting process prior to transmission of said messages including passing documents in and attached to the messages to the watermark detecting process for detecting watermarks in the documents, and controlling the distribution of an electronic message which includes a watermark in response to the data carried by the watermark in the message.

Claim 9

Independent Claim 85 words

A method of controlling the distribution of electronic messages that include confidential information, said messages carrying digital watermarks that carry data indicating that the message includes confidential information, passing messages to a watermark detecting process prior to transmission of said messages including passing documents in and attached to the messages to the watermark detecting process for detecting watermarks in the documents, and controlling the distribution of an electronic message which includes a watermark in response to the data carried by the watermark in the message.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 14 words

The method recited in claim 5 wherein said messages are transmitted over the Internet.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method recited in claim 5 wherein a database is interrogated to determine an action to take with a particular message based at least in part on the data carried by the watermark.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method recited in claim 5 wherein the action taken with respect to a particular message is dependent on the identity of the sender, the identity of the receiver and information carried by the watermark.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 40 words

The method recited in claim 5 wherein an action taken with respect to a particular message is dependent on the identity of the sender, the identity of the receiver, information carried by the watermark, and information stored in a database.

Claim 14

Independent Claim 67 words

A method of transmitting electronic messages from a sender to a receiver which comprises, detecting and reading digital watermarks carried in such messages to determine how flags in such watermarks are set, interrogating a database to determine what action should be taken with a message based upon the identity of the sender, the identity of the receiver and the flag settings in the watermark in the message.

Claim 15

Independent Claim 67 words

A method of transmitting electronic messages from a sender to a receiver which comprises, detecting and reading digital watermarks carried in such messages to determine how flags in such watermarks are set, interrogating a database to determine what action should be taken with a message based upon the identity of the sender, the identity of the receiver and the flag settings in the watermark in the message.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 14 words

The method recited in claim 10 wherein said messages are transmitted over the Internet.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method recited in claim 10 where the data carried by said watermark indicates if the message includes confidential information.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2010-11-19	2011-05-21	2011-11-20	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2014-11-19	2015-05-21	2015-11-20	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2018-11-19	2019-05-21	2019-11-20	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Digital watermarks as a gateway and control mechanism

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