The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 10, 1996
Filed:
Feb. 23, 1995
William J Johnson, Flower Mound, TX (US);
Robert S Keller, Grapevine, TX (US);
Marvin L Williams, Lewisville, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The method and apparatus of the present invention permit users to associate conditions of interest, such as keywords or originator identities. In response to the sending of a message, the data processing system determines which user conditions are met by the message input into the system and may associate the identities of such users with the message. In one embodiment, the system returns to the sender of the message the identities of users whose conditions are met by the message. In another embodiment, the system routes the message to users whose conditions are met by the message and, optionally, returns a confirmation of the delivery of the message to the sender. In either embodiment, a user can designate himself as 'invisible', so that the system will not report the invisible user's identity to the sender.