Re: [Patents] Microsoft spam-filtering patent

[PILCH Hartmut <phm@a2e.de>]

> http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='6,161,130'

Don't cite abstracts but claims, e.g. claim no 1:

   1. A method for mail server side filtering electronic mail received
   over a communication medium comprising the steps of:
   providing a first filter at the mail server including a list of spam
   messages which should not be sent to an end user;
   receiving a first electronic message ultimately intended for one or
   more end users at the mail server;
   comparing at the said mail server said received first electronic
   message to said spam messages provided in said first filter, said
   received first electronic message discarded if said received first
   electronic message is included as a spam message in said first filter
   and transmitting said first electronic message to the end user if said
   received first electronic message is not included as a spam message in
   said first filter;
   providing a second filter at the mail server for the receipt of a
   second electronic message sent over the communications medium from an
   end user, said second electronic message received at said second
   filter considered to be a spam message by the end user;
   providing a counter associated with said second filter;
   counting the number of repeated second electronic messages received by
   said second filter;
   adding said second electronic message to said first filter as a spam
   message, if said counter exceeds a predetermined value; and
   adding said second electronic message to said first filter as a spam
   message, if said second filter determines that said second electronic
   message is a spam message.

You could summarise this as "spam filter with learning capability": i.e.
the spam filter collects data about what the user rejected as spam and
based on this enlarges its set of rules about what should be filtered out.
It seems that this principle is now owned by Microsoft.

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Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance              tel. +49-89-12789608
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation       http://swpat.ffii.org/
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