Patent ID: 7386593

Claim:
A computerized method for improved handling of messages directed to a user of an electronic messaging system, said method comprising: determining user characteristics, wherein said user characteristics comprise all of the following elements: a user ID of said user in said messaging system; a name of said user; a nickname of said user, capable of identifying said user as addressee of a message; analyzing a certain message and determining message characteristics, wherein said message characteristics comprise all of the following elements: a contents of a TO: field; a contents of a CC: field, identifying addressees receiving a complimentary copy; a contents of a BCC: field, identifying addressees receiving a blind carbon copy; the a contents of the a body of said message, of said certain message, from one or a multitude of message fields; selectively applying at least one deduction rule of a potential set of deduction rules, wherein said set of deduction rules comprises all the following deduction rules: a first deduction rule, which assigns a role of SINGLE-ADDRESSEE, if said user is the only addressee in said TO: field; a second deduction rule, which assigns a role of MULTIPLE-ADDRESSEES, if said user is one of a multitude of addressees in said TO: field; a third deduction rule, which assigns a role of SINGLE-CC-ADDRESSEE, if said user is the only addressee in said CC: field; a fourth deduction rule, which assigns a role of MULTIPLE-CC-ADDRESSEES, if said user is one of a multitude of addressees in said CC: field; a fifth deduction rule, which assigns a role of BCC-ADDRESSEE, if said user is an addressee in said BCC: field; a sixth deduction rule, which assigns a role of DISTRIBUTION-LIST, if said user is a member of a distribution list in said TO: field, a seventh deduction rule, which assigns a role of DISTRIBUTION-LIST, if said user is the only or one of a multitude of addressees in said TO: field but said message does not contain a salutation with said user's name or nickname; an eighth deduction rule, which assigns a role of DISTRIBUTION-LIST, if said user is the only or one of a multitude of addressees in said TO: field and if said message comprises a footer and said footer does not comprise information referring to a person or entity said user has an established relationship with; a ninth deduction rule, which assigns a role of SINGLE-ADDRESSEE or a role of MULTIPLE-ADDRESSEES respectively, if said user is the only one or one of a multitude of addressees respectively in said CC: field but said message comprises a salutation with said user's name or nickname, based on said user characteristics and said message characteristics, to said certain message; and responsive to selectively applying at least one deduction rule, said at least one deduction rule identifying a role of said user and assigning said role to said certain message, said role revealing a relationship of said user to said certain message.