# US 7,877,789 B2 · E-mail stamping with from-header validation

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- Number: US 7,877,789 B2
- Document ID: US7877789B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 11/743,151
- Filed: 2007-05-02
- Published: 2008-01-03
- Granted: 2011-01-25
- Earliest claimed: 2005-06-01
- Assignees: Goodmail Systems, Inc.
- Inventors: Daniel T. Dreymann
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7877789B2

## CPC

- H04L 51/212: using filtering or selective blocking
- G06Q 10/107: Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
- H04L 9/3297: {involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps}
- H04L 63/0823: {using certificates (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263)}
- H04L 63/126: {the source of the received data}
- H04L 2209/56: Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

Effective aspects of stamping outbound e-mail are combined with a registration system for e-mail senders. A mail sender participates by registering From: line information with a trusted third-party repository known as a stamp authority. When the sender sends an e-mail message, the From: line is compared against the From: line information for the sender stored in the repository. If the result is a match, the e-mail is allowed to be sent. If there is not a match, then the e-mail is prevented from being stamped.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for validating a sender of an e-mail message, the method executed by at least one processor of at least one computer and comprising:
receiving an e-mail from a sender, the e-mail including a tokenized header, the token issued by a stamp authority;
determining an identity of the sender from a first field of the header;
determining from contents of a second field of the header the second field inserted by the stamp authority, that the sender is authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field; and
displaying the received e-mail to a recipient.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the received e-mail further comprises displaying indicia associated with the e-mail, the indicia signifying that the sender s authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2 wherein the indicia is a graphical icon.

### Claim 4

A computer program product for validating a sender of an e-mail message, the computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and including instructions configured to cause a processor to carry out the steps of:
receiving an e-mail from a sender, the e-mail including a tokenized header, the token issued by a stamp authority;
determining an identity of the sender from a first field of the header;
determining from contents of a second field of the header the second field inserted by the stamp authority, that the sender is authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field; and
displaying the received e-mail to a recipient.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The computer program product of claim 4 wherein displaying the received e-mail further comprises displaying indicia associated with the e-mail, the indicia signifying that the sender s authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The computer program product of claim 5 wherein the indicia is a graphical icon.

### Claim 7

A system for validating a sender of an e-mail message, the system comprising:
a mailbox provider, adapted to receive an e-mail from a sender, the e-mail including a tokenized header, the token issued by a stamp authority , the header having a first field indicating the sender's identity and a second field inserted by the stamp authority indicating that the sender is authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field; and
a user interface adapted to display the received e-mail to a mailbox owner.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the user interface is further adapted to display an indicia associated with the e-mail, the indicia signifying that the sender is authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8 wherein the indicia is a graphical icon.