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:
Jun. 01, 2010
Filed:
Dec. 22, 2003
Christopher Toomey, Cupertino, CA (US);
Christopher Toomey, Cupertino, CA (US);
AOL Inc., Dulles, VA (US);
Abstract
The volume of outgoing electronic messages from a given entity may be restricted by preventing the messages, such as spam, from being sent. Messages may be restricted, for example, by serializing outgoing messages using a mutual-exclusion locking technique or by using a ticket-based system. Serialization may occur, for example, at a web level in web-based implementations. In one system, a limited-use ticket is generated that allows an entity to send one or more electronic messages, and the ticket is provided to the entity. A request is received from the entity to send an electronic message, and the request is associated with the ticket and the electronic message. After receiving the request, a determination is made as to whether the ticket is valid and, if the ticket is determined to be valid, the electronic message is approved for sending.