US 7716217

US Patent 7716217: Determining Relevance of Electronic Content

Title: Determining relevance of electronic content

Assignee: STERLING COMPUTERS Corp (Current Assignee), Bluespace Software Corp (Original Assignee)

Inventors: Justin Marston, Paul Marston

Filing Date: January 16, 2007

Issue Date: May 11, 2010

Abstract:
A system, computer program product, and method for determining the relevance of electronic content are disclosed. The invention involves tracking actions of multiple users within an application that manages electronic content. It then determines a piece of electronic content's relevance to a specific user. This relevance is calculated based on the user's own actions on that content, as well as the actions of other recipients of the same electronic content.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

US Patent 7716217 includes three independent claims: Claim 1 (System), Claim 10 (Method), and Claim 19 (Computer program product).

Independent Claim 1: System for Determining Relevance
This claim describes a system designed to determine the relevance of electronic content. The system comprises:

• A monitoring module that tracks the actions of multiple users interacting with an application that manages electronic content (e.g., email).
• A relevance analysis module connected to the monitoring module. This module determines how relevant a piece of electronic content (sent from a sender to a user) is to that user. The key aspect is that this relevance determination depends on two factors:
  1. The specific user's own actions on that piece of electronic content (e.g., did they read it, reply to it, save it?).
  2. The actions of at least one other recipient of the same piece of electronic content (e.g., what did others who received it do with it?).

Independent Claim 10: Method for Determining Relevance
This claim outlines a method for determining the relevance of electronic content. The steps of the method are:

• Tracking actions by multiple users who are using an application for managing electronic content.
• Determining a relevance to a user for a piece of electronic content that was sent from a sender to that user. This determination is made based on:
  1. A measure of the content's relevance derived from one or more actions of the user on that specific piece of content.
  2. A measure of the content's relevance derived from one or more actions of at least one other user among the plurality of users who also received that piece of electronic content.

Independent Claim 19: Computer Program Product for Determining Relevance
This claim covers a computer program product stored on a computer-readable medium. This product includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of determining relevance. These steps are essentially the same as those described in Claim 10:

• Tracking actions of multiple users associated with an application for managing electronic content.
• Determining a relevance to a user of a piece of electronic content sent from a sender to the user. This determination is dependent on:
  1. A measure of the content's relevance based on one or more actions of the user on that content.
  2. A measure of the content's relevance based on one or more actions of at least one other recipient of the piece of electronic content.

Uncertainty Note:
Information regarding CAFC 2026 dockets for US patent 7716217 specifically was not found in the provided search results. The search results provided general CAFC case law updates and current dockets, but no direct mention of US7716217. Therefore, the current legal status is based on the Google Patents information which states "Active, expires 2027-07-19." However, it is noted that there are PTAB cases filed related to this patent, IPR2025-01248 (Procedural Termination), IPR2025-00430 (Pending - Instituted), and IPR2025-00299 (Pending - Instituted), as well as a US case filed in Texas Western District Court (1:24-cv-00552). These indicate ongoing legal challenges to the patent's validity or infringement, but the outcomes of these cases are not yet available.The patent US7716217, titled "Determining relevance of electronic content," was invented by Justin Marston and Paul Marston. It was originally assigned to Bluespace Software Corp and is currently assigned to STERLING COMPUTERS Corp. The patent application was filed on January 16, 2007, and the patent was issued on May 11, 2010.

Abstract:
The patent describes a system, computer program product, and method designed to determine the relevance of electronic content, such as email, to a user. This is achieved by monitoring the actions of multiple users within an electronic content management application. The relevance of a specific piece of content to a user is determined based on both the actions of that user on the content (e.g., reading, replying, saving) and the actions of other recipients who received the same content.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1 (System): This claim defines a system for determining the relevance of electronic content. The system includes a "monitoring module" that tracks what multiple users do with electronic content in an application (e.g., an email system). It also includes a "relevance analysis module" that uses this tracked information. This relevance analysis module calculates how important a piece of electronic content is to a particular user, taking into account both the user's own actions on that content and the actions of other people who also received that content.
• Independent Claim 10 (Method): This claim describes a method (a series of steps) for determining the relevance of electronic content. The method involves observing and recording the actions of multiple users as they interact with an electronic content management application. Based on these observed actions, the method then calculates how relevant a piece of content is to a specific user. This calculation considers what that user individually did with the content, as well as what other recipients of that same content did.
• Independent Claim 19 (Computer Program Product): This claim covers a computer program product stored on a computer-readable medium (like a hard drive or flash drive). This product contains instructions that, when run by a computer processor, cause the computer to perform the method steps outlined in Claim 10. Essentially, it's the software that enables the tracking of user actions and the calculation of content relevance based on both individual and other recipients' actions, as described above.

Uncertainty Note:
While the patent is listed as "Active" with an expiration date of July 19, 2027, according to Google Patents, there are ongoing legal proceedings. Specifically, three PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) cases (IPR2025-01248, IPR2025-00430, and IPR2025-00299) have been filed against the patent, with two currently listed as "Pending - Instituted" and one as "Procedural Termination". Additionally, a US case has been filed in the Texas Western District Court (1:24-cv-00552). The outcomes of these cases, which could affect the patent's validity or enforceability, are not detailed in the provided search results.