Patent ID: 7439467

Claim:
An apparatus for processing mail, comprising: a feeder for serially feeding pieces of mail from a stack of mail; an imaging device operable to scan the mail to obtain image data for the pieces of mail; an image data processor operable to process the image data for a piece of mail to determine address information for the piece of mail and to determine whether a selected area is substantially free from markings, wherein the processor selectively electronically tags the piece of mail such that pieces of mail are tagged as not needing a label if the selected area is substantially free from marking and pieces of mail are tagged as needing a label if the selected area is not substantially free from markings a labeler operable to selectively apply labels to pieces of mail on which the selected area is not substantially free from markings; a printer for printing markings on the pieces of mail, wherein the printer is operable to print markings in the selected area.