US 8,621,579 B2Granted

Communication apparatus, electronic mail transmitting method, and electronic mail transmitting program

AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorNobuyuki Tonegawa

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A communication apparatus enhances security in transmitting electronic mail to a destination mail address without degrading operability. An MFP is connected to an authentication server and a mail server via a network. A user name and a password are entered in a user name entry screen. The MFP requests the authentication server to authenticate the entered user name and password. When the user name and the password are authenticated, the MFP is operable to acquire an e-mail address, a SMTP authentication user name, and a SMTP authentication password according to SMTP associated with the authenticated user name and password from the authentication server. The MFP requests the mail server to authenticate the acquired SMTP authentication user name and SMTP authentication password according to SMTP. When the SMTP authentication user name and the SMTP authentication password are authenticated, the MFP is operable to transmit an e-mail to the mail server.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A communication apparatus that transmits an email with an email distributing apparatus, the communication apparatus comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable memory configured to store computer-executable codes;
and
a processor configured to execute the computer-executable codes stored in the non-transitory computer-readable memory to execute:
an authentication task that authenticates a user;
an acquiring task that acquires authentication information that has been stored in association with the authenticated user, in a case where the authentication by the authentication task succeeds;
a performing task that performs a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMPT) authentication with the email distributing apparatus using the authentication information acquired by the acquiring task, when transmitting the email;
a transmission task that transmits the email in which an email address of the communication apparatus is set to a FROM field, with the email distributing apparatus, when the SMTP authentication performed by the performing task succeeds;
and
a determining task that determines whether a transmission mode is a first transmission mode or a second transmission mode,
wherein the authentication information acquired by the acquiring task varies with a plurality of users, while the email address of the communication apparatus is common for the plurality of users,
wherein the transmission task transmits the email in which the email address of the communication apparatus is set to a FROM field if the determining task determines that the transmission mode is the first transmission mode, and
wherein the transmission task transmits the email in which the email address of the authenticated user is set to a FROM field if the determining task determines that the transmission mode is the second transmission mode.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/109,455Filed 17 May 2011 · continuation
Priority: JP 2003-38698517 Nov 2003
Published: US 2011/0219436 A18 Sep 2011
Granted: 31 Dec 2013
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

H04L 63/083
For authentication of entities: using passwords
H04L 51/00
User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols
H04L 63/08
Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security: for authentication of entities
H04L 63/0807
For authentication of entities: using tickets, e.g. Kerberos