# US RE43,306 E1 · Transmission of multimedia messages between mobile station terminals > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US RE43,306 E1 - Document ID: USRE43306E1 - Status: Granted - Kind: E1 - Application number: 11/400,073 - Filed: 2006-04-06 - Granted: 2012-04-10 - Earliest claimed: 1999-11-05 - Assignees: Data Advisors LLC - Inventors: Sami Ala-Luukko; Jussi Koski - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/USRE43306E1 ## Abstract A method and a system for transmitting messages containing multimedia information or content that enables transmission and communication of multimedia messages between subscribers connected to telecommunication systems of different system operators. The inventive system includes a first mobile station terminal from which a multimedia message is sent, a second mobile station terminal that is the intended recipient of the multimedia message, a digital mobile network, a first multimedia message server for receiving a multimedia message from the first mobile station terminal, a first address database associated with the first multimedia message server, a second multimedia message server for receiving the multimedia message from the first multimedia message server, an IP network for carrying communications between the first and second multimedia message servers, and a second address database associated with the second multimedia message server. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of transmitting a multimedia message from a first mobile station terminal of a sender to a second mobile station terminal of an intended recipient of the multimedia message, comprising the steps of: transmitting the multimedia message from the first mobile station terminal to a first multimedia message server that receives the multimedia message from the first mobile station terminal via a mobile telecommunication network; saving the received multimedia message on the first multimedia message server in a mailbox of the sender; identifying, from the received multimedia message, address information of a second multimedia message server, optionally by utilizing a first database associated with the first multimedia message server; creating, at the first multimedia message server, an e-mail message based on the received multimedia message; transmitting the created e-mail message from the first multimedia message server to the second multimedia message server for receipt by the second multimedia message server; creating a new multimedia message based on the e-mail message received by the second multimedia message server; saving the created new multimedia message on the second multimedia message server in a mailbox of the recipient; identifying, at the second multimedia message server, address information of the second mobile station terminal, optionally by utilizing a second database associated with the second multimedia message server; and sending, from the second multimedia message server to the second mobile station terminal via the mobile communication network, a notification of the new multimedia message that has been saved by the second multimedia message server. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said step of creating an e-mail message further comprises creating an e-mail message based on the multimedia message by coding the multimedia message into an e-mail message in MIME format. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first database comprises a first address database containing information correlating DNS addresses and MSISDN numbers of the first and second multimedia message servers. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the second database comprises a second address database correlating MSISDN numbers and e-mail addresses of mobile subscribers associated with the second multimedia message server. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting the multimedia message from the first mobile station terminal further comprises transmitting the multimedia message using a browser-type interface in the first mobile station terminal. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of retrieving the new multimedia message from the second multimedia message server onto the second mobile station terminal using a browser-type user interface in the second mobile station terminal. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of encrypting the created e-mail message to be transmitted to the second multimedia message server. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting the created e-mail message from the first multimedia message server to the second multimedia message server further comprises transmitting the created e-mail message using SMTP protocol. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of generating a billing ticket based on the multimedia message. ### Claim 10 A system for transmitting a multimedia message in a telecommunication network from a first mobile station terminal of a sender to a second mobile station terminal of an intended recipient of the multimedia message, said system comprising: a second multimedia message server; a first multimedia message server operable for receiving the multimedia message from the first mobile station terminal, for saving the received multimedia message, for transforming the received multimedia message into an e-mail message and for sending the e-mail message to the second multimedia message server; a first address database associated with the first multimedia message server for maintaining address information of plural multimedia message servers of the telecommunication network; an IP network for transmitting the e-mail message from the first multimedia message server to the second multimedia message server; said second multimedia message server being operable for receiving the e-mail message from the first multimedia message server, for transforming the received e-mail message into a new multimedia message, for saving the new multimedia message and for sending to the second mobile station terminal a notification of the saved new multimedia message; and a second address database associated with the second multimedia message server for maintaining address information of subscribers associated with the second multimedia message server. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, further comprising a coder for coding the received multimedia message into MIME format. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the first address database contains information correlating DNS addresses and MSISDN numbers of the plural multimedia message severs. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the second address database contains information correlating MSISDN numbers and e-mail addresses of subscribers associated with the second multimedia message server. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the first mobile station terminal includes a browser-type user interface. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the second mobile station terminal includes a browser-type user interface. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, further comprising an encrypter for encrypting the e-mail message to be sent from the first multimedia message server to the second multimedia message server. ### Claim 17 A method comprising: receiving an e-mail message at a first multimedia message server associated with a first mobile operator, wherein the e-mail message includes content corresponding to a multimedia message sent from a mobile station associated with a second mobile operator and destined for a recipient mobile station associated with the first mobile operator; converting the received e-mail message into a multimedia message for delivery to the recipient mobile station; and sending a notification of receipt of the multimedia message to the recipient mobile station. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting the multimedia message to the recipient mobile station based on available features of the recipient mobile station. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving the e-mail message from a second multimedia message server not associated with the first mobile operator. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the received e-mail message is received over a network interface using Simple Message Transfer protocol (SMTP) and Internet Protocol. ### Claim 21 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the received e-mail message comprises a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) formatted message including at least one attachment containing multimedia content. ### Claim 22 A system comprising: a multimedia message server of a first mobile operator configured to receive an e-mail message, wherein the e-mail message includes content corresponding to a multimedia message sent from a mobile station associated with a second mobile operator and destined for a recipient mobile station associated with the first mobile operator; the multimedia message server further configured to convert the e-mail message into the multimedia message for delivery to the recipient mobile station; and the multimedia message server further configured to send a notification of receipt of the multimedia message to the recipient mobile station. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The system of claim 22, wherein the multimedia message server is further configured to transmit the multimedia message to the recipient mobile station based on available features of the recipient mobile station. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The system of claim 22, wherein the multimedia message server is further configured to receive the e-mail message using a Simple Message Transfer protocol (SMTP) and Internet Protocol. ### Claim 25 (depends on 22) The system of claim 22, wherein the e-mail message includes a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) formatted message. ### Claim 26 (depends on 22) The system of claim 22, wherein the multimedia message server is further configured to receive e-mail messages generated from associated multimedia messages from a server that is not associated with the first mobile operator. ### Claim 27 A system comprising: a multimedia message server of a mobile operator configured to receive multimedia messages from mobile stations associated with the mobile operator and send notifications and multimedia messages to the mobile stations associated with the mobile operator; the multimedia message server further configured to convert multimedia messages to e-mail messages when a destination address of a multimedia message is not associated with a mobile station associated with the mobile operator, to receive e-mail messages representing multimedia messages from mobile stations not associated with the mobile operator, and to convert the received e-mail messages into multimedia messages; and the multimedia message server further configured to transmit converted e-mail messages to a first predetermined server over an Internet Protocol (IP) network and to receive e-mail messages representing multimedia messages from a second predetermined server over the IP network. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The system of claim 27, wherein the first and second predetermined servers are a same server. ### Claim 29 (depends on 27) The system of claim 27, further comprising a database configured to store mobile station address information associated with the mobile operator.