# US 9,521,104 B2 · Outgoing communications inventory

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- Number: US 9,521,104 B2
- Document ID: US9521104B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/676,699
- Filed: 2015-04-01
- Published: 2015-07-23
- Granted: 2016-12-13
- Earliest claimed: 2009-12-29
- Assignees: eBay Inc.
- Applicants: eBay Inc.
- Inventors: Nicole Lee Birdsall; Mahesh K. Somani; Kumar Rethinakaleeswaran; Mihir Sambhus
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9521104B2

## CPC

- H04L 51/23: Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
- G06Q 10/107: Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
- H04L 51/216: Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
- H04L 51/234: for tracking messages
- H04L 63/0227: {Filtering policies (mail message filtering H04L51/212)}
- 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

Systems and methods for generating and accessing a communications inventory are provided. To generate the inventory in one embodiment, a plurality of outgoing communications is received. The outgoing communications may have been auto-generated or generated as part of a batch process. Next, a determination is made that a first outgoing communication of the plurality of outgoing communications is unique relative to other outgoing communications to avoid storing duplicate messages. Lastly, a user may access a display of the first outgoing communication.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
receiving an electronic communication from an outgoing communication server, the electronic communication comprising an electronic communication selected from the group consisting of an email, SMS message, MMS message, social network message, facsimile, and voice message, and wherein the electronic communication includes personally identifiable information and body data;
removing at least a portion of the personally identifiable information from the electronic communication, the personally identifiable information comprising at least one item selected from the group consisting of a user's name, address, telephone number, email address, username, account number, payment data, credit card number, billing address, birth date, social security number, and password;
determining whether the electronic communication, with at least a portion of the personally identifiable information removed, matches at least a portion of a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications; and
in the event the electronic communication does not match at least a portion of a previously received electronic communication, storing the electronic communication in the database.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether the electronic communication matches a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications further comprises determining whether an index number associated with the electronic communication matches an index number associated with the previously received electronic communication.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether the electronic communication matches a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications further comprises determining whether a site from which the electronic communication was sent matches a site from the previously received electronic communication was sent.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining one of more of the following: whether a logo is included in the electronic communication, whether a recipient of the electronic communication is greeted by name, whether a correct footer in the body of the communication is used, whether one or more links to websites are active, whether one or more links to an email address is active, whether one or more links included in the body of the communication are active, whether one or more links to a page are correct, and whether an address in the from field in the electronic communication is recognizable as being from a specific entity.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining one of more of the following: whether a format of the electronic communication is comparable with a format template, whether images in the electronic communication are compatible with image size guidelines, whether images in the electronic communication are compatible with image placement guidelines, whether pre-defined test is included, whether pre-defined text is excluded, whether a pre-defined image is included, and whether a pre-defined image is excluded.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
determining a type of electronic communication associated with the electronic communication;
determining one or more type-based heuristic based on the type of electronic communication; and
determining whether the electronic communication complies with one or more type-based heuristic.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
determining index data from the electronic communication; and
storing the index data in the database.

### Claim 8

A system comprising:
one or more hardware processors coupled to a memory, wherein the memory stores a capture module, a scrubber module, a match module, and an interface module, wherein:
the capture module configured to receive an electronic communication from an outgoing communication server, the electronic communication comprising an electronic communication selected from the list consisting of an email, SMS message, MMS message, social network message, facsimile, and voice message;
the scrubber module configured to remove at least a portion of personally identifiable information from the electronic communication, wherein the personally identifiable information comprises at least one item selected from the group consisting of a user's name, address, telephone number, email address, username, account number, payment data, credit card number, billing address, birth date, social security number, and password;
the match module configured to determine whether the electronic communication matches at least a portion of a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications; and
the interface module configured to storing the electronic communication in the database in the event the electronic communication does not match at least a portion of a previously received electronic communication.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system according to claim 8, wherein the match module is further configured to determine whether the electronic communication matches a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications further comprises determining whether an index number associated with the electronic communication matches an index number associated with the previously received electronic communication.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The system according to claim 8, wherein the match module is further configured to determine whether the electronic communication matches a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications further comprises determining whether a site from which the electronic communication was sent matches a site from the previously received electronic communication was sent.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The system according to claim 8, the match module is further configured to determine one of more of the following: whether a logo is included in the electronic communication, whether a recipient of the electronic communication is greeted by name, whether a correct footer in the body of the communication is used, whether one or more links to websites are active, whether one or more links to an email address is active, whether one or more links included in the body of the communication are active, whether one or more links to a page are correct, and whether an address in the from field in the electronic communication is recognizable as being from a specific entity.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The system according to claim 8, the match module is further configured to determine one of more of the following: whether a format of the electronic communication is comparable with a format template, whether images in the electronic communication are compatible with image size guidelines, whether images in the electronic communication are compatible with image placement guidelines, whether pre-defined test is included, whether pre-defined text is excluded, whether a pre-defined image is included, and whether a pre-defined image is excluded.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The system according to claim 8, wherein the match module is further configured to determine a type of electronic communication associated with the electronic communication; and
the system further comprises an index module configured to determine one or more type-based heuristic that is based on the type of electronic communication, and determine whether the electronic communication complies with one or more type-based heuristic.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The system according to claim 8, further comprising:
an index module configured to determine index data from the electronic communication, and configured to store the index data in the database.

### Claim 15

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions executable by one or more hardware processors of a machine to cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
receiving an electronic communication from an outgoing communication server, the electronic communication comprises an electronic communication selected from the list consisting of an email, SMS message, MMS message, social network message, facsimile, and voice message;
removing at least a portion of personally identifiable information from the electronic communication, wherein the personally identifiable information comprises at least one item selected from the group consisting of a user's name, address, telephone number, email address, username, account number, payment data, credit card number, billing address, birth date, social security number, and password;
determining whether the electronic communication matches at least a portion of a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications; and
in the event the electronic communication does not match at least a portion of a previously received electronic communication, storing the electronic communication in the database.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the determining whether the electronic communication matches a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications further comprises determining whether an index number associated with the electronic communication matches an index number associated with the previously received electronic communication.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the determining whether the electronic communication matches a previously received electronic communication stored in a database comprising a plurality of electronic communications further comprises determining whether a site from which the electronic communication was sent matches a site from the previously received electronic communication was sent.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations comprising determining one of more of the following: whether a logo is included in the electronic communication, whether a recipient of the electronic communication is greeted by name, whether a correct footer in the body of the communication is used, whether one or more links to websites are active, whether one or more links to an email address is active, whether one or more links included in the body of the communication are active, whether one or more links to a page are correct, and whether an address in the from field in the electronic communication is recognizable as being from a specific entity.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations comprising determining one of more of the following: whether a format of the electronic communication is comparable with a format template, whether images in the electronic communication are compatible with image size guidelines, whether images in the electronic communication are compatible with image placement guidelines, whether pre-defined test is included, whether pre-defined text is excluded, whether a pre-defined image is included, and whether a pre-defined image is excluded.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
determining a type of electronic communication associated with the electronic communication;
determining one or more type-based heuristic based on the type of electronic communication; and
determining whether the electronic communication complies with one or more type-based heuristic.