IP Verse

Communications grouped as conversations

Patent No. US8725813 (titled "Communications grouped as conversations") on Sep 30, 2008. The application was issued on May 13, 2014.

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Technical Landscape

In the late 2000s when ’813 was filed, mobile computing environments were characterized by significant hardware constraints, particularly regarding display real estate and local storage capacity. At a time when mobile messaging was typically implemented using flat, chronological lists of individual entries, users were required to navigate through disparate records to reconstruct the context of a single exchange. When systems commonly relied on discrete file-based or entry-based views rather than relational grouping, the overhead of organizing and manipulating related communications was non-trivial, often necessitating repetitive manual actions for each individual message within a thread.

Prosecution Position

The technical advancement involves an architectural shift from linear message processing to a hierarchical conversation-based display and management system. By implementing a selectable conversation mode that dynamically aggregates related communications into a single graphical element, the system overcomes the physical limitations of small-screen interfaces. This integration enables the execution of bulk operations on entire groups of related data through a single interaction point, achieving a technical effect of reduced navigational depth and improved data organization efficiency in resource-constrained mobile environments.

Claims

This patent contains a total of 20 claims, with claims 1, 8, and 13 serving as the independent claims. These independent claims focus on systems and methods for managing electronic communications through conversation identifiers, specifically enabling the organization of messages into threaded hierarchies and the implementation of an ignore function that prevents the downloading or transmission of further messages associated with a specific conversation. The dependent claims serve to further define the technical specifications of the conversation identifiers, detail the specific user interface actions and display orders for the message threads, and clarify the communication protocols between clients and servers for retrieving or filtering messages.

Key Claim Terms New

Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.

Term (Source)Support for SpecificationInterpretation
Conversation display mode
(Claim 1)		The embodiments allow a user to select a conversation mode for displaying communications as conversations. Conversations are groups of communications that can be traced back as related to an original communication. In response to the user's selection, embodiments provide for displaying graphical elements associated with a conversation.A specific user interface setting that organizes and groups individual e-mail messages into related sets based on their association with a common original communication.
Conversation identifier
(Claim 1, Claim 8, Claim 13)		Each of the plurality of e-mail messages includes a conversation identifier associating each of the plurality of e-mail messages with conversations. The method includes including a conversation identifier in the message and identifying the message and the reply message using the conversation identifier.A unique data tag or metadata element included within a message that associates it with a specific conversation thread, used to identify and group related messages.
Icon indicating roll-up information
(Claim 1)		The graphical element associated with the conversation comprises an icon indicating roll-up information. The icon indicating roll-up information indicates that at least one message in the conversation has an attachment.A graphical symbol representing a summary or specific attribute (such as an attachment) of one or more messages contained within a collapsed conversation group.
Ignore the conversation
(Claim 1, Claim 8, Claim 13)		Embodiments also allow users to act on groups of communications by acting on a conversation. In response to receiving the selection to ignore the conversation, the system does not download additional messages related to the conversation. Similarly, in response to receiving the indication that the conversation is to be ignored, the system does not send information from the new message to the client.An action applied to a group of related messages that prevents the downloading or sending of additional or new messages belonging to that specific conversation thread.
Tree hierarchy
(Claim 1)		The plurality of related messages are associated with the conversation and are displayed in a tree hierarchy. The tree hierarchy displays a communication, and a reply communication indented and below the communication.A visual arrangement of related messages where reply communications are displayed indented and positioned below the communication to which they respond.

Patent Summary

Litigation Cases New

US Latest litigation cases involving this patent.

Case NumberFiling DateTitle
2:25-cv-00772Aug 8, 2025Disintermediation Services, Inc. V. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
2:25-cv-00771Aug 8, 2025Disintermediation Services, Inc. V. Carvana, Llc
2:25-cv-00773Aug 8, 2025DISINTERMEDIATION SERVICES, INC. v. HILTON WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS INC. et al

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US8725813

Application Number
US12242676A
Filing Date
Sep 30, 2008
Publication Date
May 13, 2014
External Links
Slate, USPTO , Google Patents