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. 15, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 22, 1993
Sophia M Johnson, Flower Mound, TX (US);
William J Johnson, Flower Mound, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for the distribution of arbitrary media are provided. In one embodiment, during the preparation of an electronic mail item, the invention searches a electronic mail inbasket for items received from the address to which the electronic mail item is to be sent. A list of any such inbasket items is presented to the user before the item being prepared may be sent. The user is offered the option of viewing any such received items, editing the item being prepared, sending the item being prepared without further editing, or aborting the item being prepared. In another embodiment, upon the dialing of a telephone call, the invention searches a voice mail inbasket for recorded audio messages received from the telephone whose number has been dialed, and offers the user similar options if any such inbasket items are found.