Invalidity dossier
US 6839411
Graphical user interface and method for displaying messages
Current assignee: Mitel Networks Corp
Added 9/23/2026, 6:20:13 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US 6839411 B1
Title: Graphical user interface and method for displaying messages
Patent number: US 6839411 B1 (application US09/259,985)
Assignee: Original assignee Mitel Networks Inc; current assignee listed as Mitel Networks Corp.
Inventors: Alexey Saltanov, Benjamin B. Tang, Sharon Brown, Tom Hill
Key dates: Priority/filing date 1999-03-01; granted and published 2005-01-04. Status: Expired – Lifetime; anticipated expiration 2019-03-01. Related filings noted: GB9919245A (GB2347581B) and CA2297373A (CA2297373C).
Purpose (per the supplied text): The invention "relates to messaging systems and, in particular, to a messaging system including a graphical user interface for displaying messages." It addresses a problem in existing systems where reply or forwarded messages are attached as "embedded messages" represented only by an icon in the message body. A recipient must double-click each icon separately to read the forwarded and original messages, potentially opening "a number of messages, many levels deep to follow the communication history of a message."
Plain-language scope: The patent concerns a messaging-system GUI that displays messages—including voice, facsimile, text, and graphic types—and presents forms (windows) for composing and reading. The excerpt sets out background: voice messaging systems, PBX call forwarding to mailboxes, message retrieval by telephone, and message translators such as text-to-speech (TTS) and speech-to-text (SST) converters so users can retrieve messages whose formats their devices do not support. It also describes examples of compose and read forms (e.g., Microsoft Outlook®), with properties, body, attachments, and voice messages appearing as attachments. The excerpt ends mid-sentence while describing the icon-based embedded-message problem, so the specific claimed solution is not shown.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6839411/en
What the excerpt does not establish: The actual claims, the precise inventive solution, the full specification or figures, the examiner's cited prior art, and any legal conclusions. The excerpt references U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,636 to Irribarren as prior art background only.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:42:49 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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