Patent ID: 7653606

Claim:
A computer implemented method for classifying messages in connection with a message filtration system, the method comprising: recognizing patterns including one or more of words, phrases, strings and character sets in a computer readable encoding of a message; applying an artificial neural system embodied as software executing on the computer and implementing at least a two-level hierarchy of neural networks responsive to the recognized patterns in order to classify the message, the two-levels of neural networks including a primary neural network level that determines if the message is likely a first type or a second type and a secondary neural network level that includes a pair of neural networks, including a first secondary level neural network that determines if a likely first type message is of the first type or a third type and a second secondary level neural network, different from said first secondary level neural network, that determines if a likely second type message is of the second type or of the third type; and selectively handling the computer readable encoding of the message in accord with the determined one of the first, second and third types.