Patent US6505233B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.

US6505233B1 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method for communicating information among a group of participants

Assignee: METRICSTREAM Inc

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Filing: 1999-10-25

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Granted: 2003-01-07

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Expires: 2019-10-25

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Abstract

Abstract A method is described that can be used to communicate information among a group of participants. A participant may create an electronic form specifying a list of network addresses corresponding to other participants intended to receive the communication. A server receives the form and delivers a message associated with an electronic medium. When the participant opens the message, the electronic medium is produced by the server and includes static and dynamic content. The participant can add content to the dynamic content. The dynamic content may be asynchronously dynamically updated in the server to indicate a then current content of the electronic medium, and can be accessed by other to participants in the group.

Inventors

👤 Mike Hanson
👤 Graham Miller
👤 Brian Axe

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —

Jurisdiction US

Data Source google_patents

Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 20:08

CPC Classifications

G; G06; G06Q; G06Q50/00; G06Q50/34; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/10; G06Q10/107; G06Q30/00; G06Q30/02; G07; G07F; G07F17/00; G07F17/32; G07F17/3286; G07F17/3288; H; H04; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/02; H04L12/16; H04L12/18; H04L12/1813; H04L12/1827; H04L51/00; H04L51/48

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 33

Claim 1

Independent Claim 208 words

A method of communicating information among participants of a group, comprising: creating and storing in a server, an electronic medium having a dynamic content region that stores dynamic content and all updates thereto; sending an e-mail message to e-mail clients associated with the participants, wherein the e-mail message references the electronic medium and displays the dynamic content associated with the electronic medium including all then current updates thereto; receiving input from at least one of an e-mail client associated with one of the participants and an external source in data communication with the server; asynchronously dynamically updating the dynamic content stored in the server based on the input; in response to any of the participants opening the e-mail message parsing the e-mail message received by each of the participants from the server in response to the participants opening the message; and automatically providing the updated dynamic content to an *mail client associated with each of the participants by serving the e-mail client with the then current dynamic content stored in the server and associated with the electronic medium; wherein the parsing step further comprises: determining an e-mail receiving capability for each of the participants; and accessing the dynamic content from the server based on the e-mail receiving capability.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 208 words

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 31 words

The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the updated dynamic content stored in the server in response to another open action by any of the recipients receiving the message.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the updated dynamic content is current when retrieved by any of the participants.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the message and the electronic medium each contain a plurality of static content.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the external source comprises one of news feeds and stock quotes.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic medium further comprises an interaction region for accepting the input from the participants.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the updating step comprises dynamically updating the server with the input accepted in the interaction region.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 41 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the updating step further comprises dynamically updating the dynamic content asynchronously relative to the sending of the updated dynamic content based on one of the another open action and the input from the participants.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 21 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the serving step comprises serving the electronic medium substantially immediately after the open action.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the updating step further comprises concatenating the updated dynamic content.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method of claim 6 , wherein the updating step comprises: promoting a collaboration among the participants using the interaction region; and dynamically updating the dynamic content as a function of the collaboration.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is one of an electronic message and a voice mail message.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the parsing step further comprises causing the server to configure the electronic medium with a plurality of static content.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic content comprises one of audio content, video content, binary content, text, executable content and images.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to support one of a plurality of electronic mail and Internet protocols.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of electronic mail protocols comprise one of MIME and SMTP.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 235 words

A method of communicating information among a group, comprising: receiving, from an email client associated with one of a plurality of participants in the group, an electronic form containing network addresses of recipients in the group to a server; creating and storing in a server, based on the electronic form, an electronic medium having a dynamic content region that stores dynamic content and all updates thereto; transmitting an e-mail message to e-mail clients associated with each of the recipients from the server in response to the sending of the electronic form wherein the e-mail message references the electronic medium and causes the e-mail clients to display the dynamic content associated with the electronic medium including all then current updates thereto; receiving input from at least one of an e-mail client associated with one of the recipients and an external source in data communication with the server; asynchronously dynamically updating the dynamic content stored in the server based on the input; parsing the e-mail message when at least one of the recipients opens the e-mail message; and serving the updated then current dynamic content from the server in response to the parsing of the message; wherein the transmitting step further comprises transmitting the e-mail message to a sender of the electronic form having one of the network addresses contained in the electronic form to indicate that the e-mail message was received by each of the recipients.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 235 words

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the sending step further comprises importing each of the network addresses from a peripheral device.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the sending step further comprises explicitly inputting each of the network addresses into the electronic form.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the sending step comprises causing the server to at least partially complete the electronic form.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 16 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the electronic form comprises a plurality of static content.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 21 words

The method of claim 21 , further comprising configuring the static content to define a subject matter of the electronic form.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 15 words

The method of claim 21 , comprising embedding the static content in the electronic medium.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the sending step comprises sending the electronic form from one of a web site, a desktop computer, a cellular phone, and a personal digital assistant.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the sending step further comprises accessing the electronic form from one of a web site, a desktop computer, a cellular phone, and a personal digital assistant.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 21 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the message comprises one of an electronic mail message and a voice mail message.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 16 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the recipients comprise a sender of the electronic form.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein the transmitting step further comprises sending an acknowledgment message to a sender of the electronic form to indicate that the message was received by each of the recipients.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method of claim 17 , further comprising serving the electronic medium to reflect the updated dynamic content based on the input from at least one of the recipients and the external source.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method of claim 17 , further comprising updating selected regions of the electronic medium to reflect the updated dynamic content based on the input from at least one of the recipients and the external source.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 30 , wherein the selected regions are dynamically updated, when the recipients are one of viewing and listening to the electronic medium.

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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2006-01-06	2006-07-08	2007-01-07	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2010-01-06	2010-07-08	2011-01-07	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2014-01-06	2014-07-08	2015-01-07	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

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