Recipient Change Notification in Message Threads

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing messaging systems fail to effectively notify users of changes in message recipients within a thread, leading to potential leaks of confidential information or confusion due to unclear additions or removals of recipients.

Innovation Solution

An electronic communication device compares address information of new messages with prior messages in a thread to detect changes in recipients and notifies the user, providing options to manage these changes through user interface screens and dialog windows.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If recipients are added or removed during a message thread without notification, then message delivery flexibility is improved, but information security and communication clarity deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemessage delivery flexibilityVSAvoidinformation security and communication clarity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback by notifying recipients when new recipients are added or existing recipients are removed from a message thread. This feedback mechanism ensures that all recipients are aware of changes in the distribution list, allowing them to adjust their responses accordingly and preventing unintended information leakage while maintaining delivery flexibility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Device complexity

If recipient changes are not tracked, then system complexity is reduced, but communication accuracy and security deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem complexityVSAvoidcommunication accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by automatically tracking and comparing recipient lists before and after message sending. This preliminary comparison detects changes in recipients proactively, allowing the system to prepare and send notifications before the next message is sent, ensuring communication accuracy without requiring complex manual tracking processes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If automatic recipient change detection is implemented, then communication reliability is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication reliabilityVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the essential information needed for recipient comparison - specifically the recipient address lists from message headers. By focusing only on this critical data rather than processing entire message contents, the system achieves reliable recipient change detection with minimal processing time and computational resources.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP2410477B1Recipient change notification
Publication Date: 2013.03.06 BLACKBERRY LTD
  • EP2410477B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP2410477B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP2410477B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6

AI summary

An electronic communication device may, perhaps with the assistance of a mobile device server, determining that a new electronic message received by the device is part of a message thread that includes the new message and at least one prior electronic message previously received at the device. A comparison may be made of address information of the new message with address information of the at least one prior electronic message in the message thread to determine that there has been a change in addressed recipients between the new message and the at least one prior electronic message. The device may then notify a user of the device of the change.