Tumbleweed Communications Corp.

Randy Shoup

Jeffrey Christopher Smith

Jean-Christophe Denis Bandini

A method and apparatus are provided for securely delivering documents over an electronic network while preserving document formatting. The invention also provides security that restricts access to the system to an authorized user. A document is sent from a sending computer to a dedicated server, using a send client application. The document is specified for delivery within the send client application, or by clicking and dragging the document onto an appropriate window or icon on the sending computer desktop, or is specified from within a document authoring application. A dedicated server stores the document and forwards an electronic notification to a receiving device. The stored document is downloaded from the dedicated server, using a receive client application, in response to the notification. The receive client application permits the recipient to receive, view, print, and/or manipulate the document. The dedicated server is preferably managed by a configuration user interface having an HTML interface for sending, tracking, accessing account information, managing billings, and managing mail distribution lists. The send client application allows a user to specify document delivery parameters. The parameters may be stored for later modification and/or use.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Randy Shoup