Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20030163530?dq=6,408,309
Timestamp: 2017-04-25 13:22:33
Document Index: 319687147

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 120', 'art 120', 'art 120', 'art 120', 'art 120', 'art 120', 'art 120']

Patent US20030163530 - Dynamic visualization of electronic mail propagation - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA method is described for providing information regarding a piece of electronic mail (e-mail). The method includes processing a data set containing transmission data associated with the e-mail so as to determine one or more steps in a propagation history of the e-mail. The transmission data typically...http://www.google.com/patents/US20030163530?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20030163530 - Dynamic visualization of electronic mail propagationAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS20030163530 A1Publication typeApplicationApplication numberUS 10/035,423Publication dateAug 28, 2003Filing dateJan 4, 2002Priority dateJan 4, 2002Also published asUS7328241Publication number035423, 10035423, US 2003/0163530 A1, US 2003/163530 A1, US 20030163530 A1, US 20030163530A1, US 2003163530 A1, US 2003163530A1, US-A1-20030163530, US-A1-2003163530, US2003/0163530A1, US2003/163530A1, US20030163530 A1, US20030163530A1, US2003163530 A1, US2003163530A1InventorsAmnon Ribak, Sigalit Ur, Michal JacoviOriginal AssigneeInternational Business Machines CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (16), Referenced by (48), Classifications (11), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetDynamic visualization of electronic mail propagation
[0083] >--Sharon [0084] In this example, computer 54 scans the address data in the e-mail above and determines that, in the first phase of the e-mail's propagation, ‘Sharon’ is a sender, ‘Doug’ is a primary recipient, and ‘Marilyn,’ ‘Lynne,’ and ‘tim@littleserver.com’ are secondary recipients. Continued analysis preferably generates the entire propagation history of the e-mail. Computer 54 (or another computer) then searches in an organizational chart for the aforementioned names, and, if matches are found, the computer displays the chart with appropriate visual symbols, typically indicating sender, primary recipients, and secondary recipients, in a display step 110. As appropriate, the visual symbols may be distinguished by color, size, font, style, and/or the use of graphical objects, such as arrows, in order to more clearly indicate the propagation of the piece of e-mail. If some of the names are not found in the organizational chart, then they may be displayed with a symbol or color indicating “no further information known.” Optionally, people on the chart with whom the user has previously corresponded may be marked in a particular color. [0085] In a preferred embodiment, computer 54 displays an animation sequence in step 110, in which appropriately colored arrows or other markers are superimposed on the chart, so as to represent the movement of the e-mail. Typically, the hierarchical chart is generated based on a representation of the organization's structure, e.g., Beth, John, and Mary report to Steven, Steven reports to Andre, and Andre reports to Charles, the head of the organization. [0086] [0086]FIG. 3A is a sample chart 120 showing members of a company, the chart being configured for display on monitor 42 of computer 54, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Although chart 120 is shown in the figure as displaying an organizational hierarchy, it will be appreciated that other themes (e.g., a map) may be appropriate for other applications. In sample chart 120, a plurality of hierarchical trees 130, 140, 150, 160, and 170, are shown, each representing the authority of employees of the company in five of its offices. As described hereinabove, chart 120 may be obtained from an already existing database, or, alternatively, generated by computer 54 based on analysis of a company telephone directory, payroll register, or other list of employees which includes information relevant to the user. Preferably, computer 54 is enabled to display chart 120 in a variety of different formats (e.g., Tree View, Directory View, Fish-Eye). Alternatively or additionally, the names are shown in a non-hierarchical fashion, e.g., in clusters of names, each cluster having a particular characteristic such as employer, salary range, or nationality. For some applications, the names are displayed on monitor 42 without being arranged with respect to an external organizing characteristic. [0087] [0087]FIG. 3B shows chart 120, and, superimposed thereon, the first stage of propagation of a piece of e-mail, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this example, arrows 180, 182 and 184 represent the sending of an e-mail from a sender (Paul Earnest) to three respective recipients (Peter Lawrence, Steve Goddard, and Golan Duvnov). Preferably, arrows leading to primary recipients of the e-mail (i.e., Peter Lawrence) are unbroken, while arrows leading to secondary recipients are dashed. Alternatively or additionally, the names of senders and recipients are highlighted in another suitable fashion, so as to enable the user to easily identify the flow of the e-mail on a large organizational chart. For example, the sender may be marked with a red square, and each receiver may be marked with a blue square. [0088] Advantageously, by displaying senders and recipients in a manner which indicates their ranks within the organization, the user can quickly assess the importance of any name appearing in an e-mail. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 3B, the fact that the e-mail was sent to no recipient with a rank higher than that of middle-level manager Peter Lawrence might be of great importance to the user. By contrast, prior art e-mail displays, which show a linear and sometimes very long “cc” list, typically make it extremely difficult for the recipient of an e-mail to quickly grasp the ranks and/or office locations of individuals within the company who have read the e-mail. [0089] [0089]FIG. 3C shows chart 120, and, superimposed thereon, the second stage of propagation of the piece of e-mail whose first stage of propagation is shown in FIG. 3B, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this second stage of the e-mail, arrows 190, 192 and 194 represent the sending of the e-mail from Peter Lawrence (shown as a recipient in FIG. 3B), to a primary recipient (Riki Fontaine) and to two secondary recipients (Yaki Goldberg and Nir Ben-Zvi). [0090] [0090]FIG. 4 is a sample display showing an output of computer 54 in response to processing a received e-mail, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Preferably, a graphical user interface (GUI) operating on computer 54 receives a mouse input from the user indicating one of the names on a displayed hierarchy, and computer 54 graphically and textually displays the interactions of that person with the received e-mail. For example, if the user clicks on “Gail” in the hierarchy, then computer 54 preferably highlights boxes on the left side of the screen indicating phases in the e-mail's history in which Gail played a role as sender or recipient. Moreover, the text of each of these phases is preferably highlighted in a text-display box at the bottom of the screen. [0091] Alternatively or additionally, the user is enabled to scroll through the text of the e-mail displayed in the text-display box, and propagating arrows on the chart are displayed and updated in accordance with the sender and recipients of any given displayed portion of the e-mail. [0092] Further alternatively or additionally, system 20 provides information to the user concerning a person mentioned in the text of the e-mail itself, but who happens not to be a sender or recipient at any phase in the e-mail's history. Thus, for example, the user may click on the name “Elizabeth Rose” in the middle of a sentence in the e-mail, and computer 54 highlights that name on the organizational chart. [0093] Preferably, some or all of the features described herein with respect to system 20 are incorporated in plug-ins designed to operate with existing electronic mail software, such as, by way of illustration and not limitation, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, cc:Mail, Commtouch, ProntoMail, Yahoo! Mail, or Eudora. Alternatively or additionally, dedicated stand-alone e-mail software operating on one or more computers in system 20 performs some or all of the processing and displaying functions described herein. [0094] It will be understood by one skilled in the art that aspects of the present invention described hereinabove can be embodied in a computer running software, and that the software can be supplied and stored in tangible media, e.g., hard disks, floppy disks or compact disks, or in intangible media, e.g., in an electronic memory, or on a network such as the Internet. [0095] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather, the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove, as well as variations and modifications thereof that are not in the prior art, which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5544360 *Feb 3, 1995Aug 6, 1996Paragon Concepts, Inc.Method for accessing computer files and data, using linked categories assigned to each data file record on entry of the data file recordUS5857077 *Mar 26, 1997Jan 5, 1999Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.Tracing system having follow-up distribution section for distributing information based on a distribution history of prior distributed information stored in distribution history storing sectionUS5948058 *Oct 30, 1996Sep 7, 1999Nec CorporationMethod and apparatus for cataloging and displaying e-mail using a classification rule preparing means and providing cataloging a piece of e-mail into multiple categories or classification types based on e-mail object informationUS6076101 *Aug 14, 1997Jun 13, 2000Fujitsu LimitedElectronic mail processing system with bonus point trackingUS6147687 *Oct 2, 1998Nov 14, 2000International Business Machines CorporationDynamic and selective buffering tree view refresh with viewable pending notificationUS6256664 *Mar 19, 1999Jul 3, 2001Bigfix, Inc.Method and apparatus for computed relevance messagingUS6415297 *Nov 1, 1999Jul 2, 2002International Business Machines CorporationParallel database support for workflow management systemsUS6463462 *Feb 2, 1999Oct 8, 2002Dialogic Communications CorporationAutomated system and method for delivery of messages and processing of message responsesUS6789107 *May 3, 2000Sep 7, 2004International Business Machines CorporationMethod and apparatus for providing a view of an electronic mail messageUS6823368 *Sep 28, 2000Nov 23, 2004International Business Machines CorporationMethod and system for E-mail sender chain history by adding a sender-chain filed to the E-mail header when forwarding a chain forwarded E-mail message to another recipientUS6832244 *Sep 21, 2000Dec 14, 2004International Business Machines CorporationGraphical e-mail content analyser and prioritizer including hierarchical email classification system in an emailUS20020016928 *Jul 3, 2001Feb 7, 2002Kazuo TakaragiMethod and a device for managing a computer networkUS20020087679 *Jan 4, 2001Jul 4, 2002Visual InsightsSystems and methods for monitoring website activity in real timeUS20020099777 *Jan 25, 2001Jul 25, 2002Anoop GuptaIntegrating collaborative messaging into an electronic mail programUS20020129106 *Mar 12, 2001Sep 12, 2002Surgency, Inc.User-extensible system for manipulating information in a collaborative environmentUS20030167310 *Jan 27, 2003Sep 4, 2003International Business Machines CorporationMethod and apparatus for electronic mail interaction with grouped message types* Cited by examinerReferenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7080121 *Apr 4, 2001Jul 18, 2006Minolta Co., Ltd.System, method, program product, and apparatus for equipment managementUS7582127Feb 1, 2007Sep 1, 2009Cabot Microelectronics CorporationPolishing composition for a tungsten-containing substrateUS7734696 *Apr 8, 2002Jun 8, 2010Oracle International CorporationHierarchical org-chart based email mailing list maintenanceUS8010459Aug 26, 2004Aug 30, 2011Google Inc.Methods and systems for rating associated members in a social networkUS8015019Aug 3, 2004Sep 6, 2011Google Inc.Methods and systems for providing a documentUS8015119Aug 26, 2004Sep 6, 2011Google Inc.Methods and systems for the display and navigation of a social networkUS8019875Jun 4, 2004Sep 13, 2011Google Inc.Systems and methods for indicating a user state in a social networkUS8060405Dec 31, 2004Nov 15, 2011Google Inc.Methods and systems for correlating connections between users and links between articlesUS8271597Jun 4, 2010Sep 18, 2012Bank Of America CorporationIntelligent derivation of email addressesUS8280821Sep 27, 2011Oct 2, 2012Google Inc.Methods and systems for providing a documentUS8341232Jun 4, 2010Dec 25, 2012Bank Of America CorporationRelationship identification based on email trafficUS8429091Aug 1, 2011Apr 23, 2013Google Inc.Methods and systems for the display and navigation of a social networkUS8458224Jun 4, 2010Jun 4, 2013Bank Of America CorporationAuditing search requests in a relationship analysis systemUS8521591Oct 11, 2011Aug 27, 2013Google Inc.Methods and systems for correlating connections between users and links between articlesUS8538810Mar 29, 2005Sep 17, 2013Google Inc.Methods and systems for member-created advertisement in a member networkUS8621215Jun 30, 2004Dec 31, 2013Google Inc.Methods and systems for creating monetary accounts for members in a social networkUS8719177Jul 28, 2011May 6, 2014Google Inc.Methods and systems for providing a documentUS8756164Sep 14, 2012Jun 17, 2014Google Inc.Methods and systems for providing a documentUS8762286Sep 14, 2012Jun 24, 2014Google Inc.Methods and systems for providing a documentUS8826022Sep 18, 2013Sep 2, 2014Google Inc.Methods and systems for creating monetary accounts for members in a social networkUS8832132Jun 22, 2004Sep 9, 2014Google Inc.Personalizing search queries based on user membership in social network communitiesUS8856135Jun 4, 2010Oct 7, 2014Bank Of America CorporationIntelligent sorting and correlation of email trafficUS9189820Aug 14, 2014Nov 17, 2015Google Inc.Methods and systems for creating monetary accounts for members in a social networkUS9332080Aug 4, 2011May 3, 2016Google Inc.Systems and methods for indicating a user state in a social networkUS9436932 *Aug 31, 2009Sep 6, 2016International Business Machines CorporationMethod and system for highlighting email recipientsUS9489462Aug 25, 2014Nov 8, 2016Google Inc.Personalizing search queries based on user membership in social network communitiesUS9564025Sep 27, 2011Feb 7, 2017Google Inc.Systems and methods for indicating a user state in a social networkUS20010029533 *Apr 4, 2001Oct 11, 2001Atsushi TomitaSystem, method, program product, and apparatus for equipment managementUS20030191806 *Apr 8, 2002Oct 9, 2003Osterberg Donald H.Hierarchical org-chart based email mailing list maintenanceUS20040093566 *Nov 5, 2003May 13, 2004Mcelligott Adrian EdwinMethod and software product for inserting author related information into electronic mail messagesUS20050159970 *Aug 26, 2004Jul 21, 2005Orkut BuyukkoktenMethods and systems for the display and navigation of a social networkUS20050159998 *Aug 26, 2004Jul 21, 2005Orkut BuyukkoktenMethods and systems for rating associated members in a social networkUS20050166155 *Jan 24, 2004Jul 28, 2005Bridges Amanda K.Transmission report for electronic mailUS20050195425 *Jan 24, 2004Sep 8, 2005Bridges Amanda K.Email confirmation for specified task at print deviceUS20060173824 *Mar 15, 2005Aug 3, 2006Metalincs CorporationElectronic communication analysis and visualizationUS20060224446 *Mar 29, 2005Oct 5, 2006Fox Kevin DMethods and systems for member-created advertisement in a member networkUS20070214728 *Feb 1, 2007Sep 20, 2007Cabot Microelectronics CorporationMethod of polishing a tungsten-containing substrateUS20070266641 *Jul 26, 2007Nov 22, 2007Cabot Microelectronics CorporationMethod of polishing a tungsten-containing substrateUS20080159114 *Jan 2, 2007Jul 3, 2008Dipietro Richard AnthonyHigh density data storage medium, method and deviceUS20110035681 *Jul 13, 2010Feb 10, 2011Carl MandelRelational presentation of communications and application for transaction analysisUS20110055333 *Aug 31, 2009Mar 3, 2011International Business Machines CorporationMethod and system for highlighting email recipientsUS20110078150 *Jun 4, 2010Mar 31, 2011Bank Of America CorporationIntelligent Sorting and Correlation of Email TrafficUS20110078175 *Jun 4, 2010Mar 31, 2011Bank Of America CorporationAuditing Search Requests in a Relationship Analysis SystemUS20110078259 *Jun 4, 2010Mar 31, 2011Bank Of America CorporationRelationship Identification Based on Email TrafficUS20110078260 *Jun 4, 2010Mar 31, 2011Bank Of America CorporationIntelligent Derivation of Email AddressesUS20130159425 *Dec 14, 2011Jun 20, 2013Patricia S. HoganDisplay of user relationshipsWO2006083793A3 *Jan 30, 2006Nov 29, 2007Metalincs CorpElectronic communication analysis and visualizationWO2009087401A1 *Jan 12, 2009Jul 16, 2009Blue Whale Systems LimitedA system and method for the augmentation of an electronic message display* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification709/206International ClassificationG06Q10/10, H04L12/24Cooperative ClassificationH04L41/22, H04L51/24, H04L12/587, G06Q10/107European ClassificationG06Q10/107, H04L41/22, H04L51/24, H04L12/58NLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 1, 2002ASAssignmentOwner name: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, NEW YFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:RIBAK, AMNON;UR, SIGALIT;JACOVI, MICHAL;REEL/FRAME:012625/0720;SIGNING DATES FROM 20011021 TO 20011031Aug 18, 2011FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Aug 18, 2011SULPSurcharge for late paymentSep 13, 2011ASAssignmentOwner name: GOOGLE INC., CALIFORNIAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:026894/0001Effective date: 20110817Aug 5, 2015FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services