Patent ID: 7080123

Claim:
A method for an email server to reduce the unintended duplication of messages forwarded to an email recipient, comprising: forming a first composite message comprising a first email message sent by a client to the email server; computing and storing a first representative value in the email server for said first composite message when the email server does not receive a confirmation from a client in response to a receipt message sent by the email server, the receipt message representing an acknowledgement for the client that the email server received the message in full; forming, after said first composite message, a second composite message comprising a second email message; computing a second representative value for said second composite message; comparing said first and second representative values; forwarding said second email message to an email recipient only if the comparison of said first and second representative values do not indicate duplication; and discarding at least one stored representative value from the email server based on at least one predetermined criterion.