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:
Apr. 04, 2000
Filed:
Jan. 05, 1998
Alexandros Biliris, Chatham, NJ (US);
Gisli Hjalmtysson, Gillette, NJ (US);
Hosagrahar Visvesvaraya Jagadish, Berkeley Heights, NJ (US);
Mark Alan Jones, New Providence, NJ (US);
Inderpal Singh Mumick, Berkeley Heights, NJ (US);
Euthimios Panagos, New Providence, NJ (US);
Divesh Srivastava, Summit, NJ (US);
AT&T Corp., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention is a messaging system, and method of operation thereof, which provides message recipients with control over the delivery of message and charges the cost of a message to the sender of the message. A message is received at a messaging server from a sender system, the message including an indication of a recipient system. A notification message is transmitted to the recipient system, allowing the message recipient to determine whether they desire the message to be delivered. If so, an activation message is received from the recipient system and the message is transmitted to the recipient system. A charge for the message is assessed to the sender of the message. The message is stored in the messaging server until the activation message is received. At least a portion of the assessed charge may be credited or debited to the recipient of the message. The message may include any type of electronic information, such as text, graphics, video and audio information, and may be encrypted or unencrypted.