Patent · US Expired

Message sender status monitor

US6501834B1 · kind B1 · utility

281Cited by
3References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 21, 2001
Grant dateDec 31, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 21, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L51/08
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A message sender status monitor is used to determine the communication status of the sender of an electronic message. In the case of email, upon the recipient opening an email, a query is launched to a “status registry” to determine if the sender of the email is currently logged in to the communication network, or if the sender is currently on the telephone, or currently using a cell phone, etc. This status information is then used by the recipient of the email to determine the communication medium used to send a reply to the email sender. For example, if the status information indicates that the message sender is currently logged in to the data network, the recipient can respond using “instant messaging” (considered, therefore, to be a more efficient type of response that merely responding with an email message).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.