WO2016040368A1

WO2016040368A1 - System and method for sending and displaying images and other web content in the message header of an email

Info

Publication number: WO2016040368A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/049013
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matthew James DURR; Mark-Ethan JERMAIN
Original assignee: Attlo Llc
Priority date: 2014-09-08
Filing date: 2015-09-08
Publication date: 2016-03-17

Abstract

A computerized method and system for sending and displaying images and other web content in the message header of an email is disclosed. The method includes receiving, at a server, an email content comprising a recipient, sender and subject, wherein at least one of the sender and subject includes an image, encoding, at the server, a Base64 representation for the image, the Base64 representation identifying the image, storing, in a database, the image and the Base64 representation, sending, via the server, an email to the recipient, the email comprising the email content wherein the Base64 representation is in place of the image in the email content, transferring, to a recipient email client, the image when the recipient views the email in the recipient email client, and displaying, at the recipient email client, the image in place of the Base64 representation when the recipient views the email.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SENDING AND DISPLAYING IMAGES AND OTHER WEB CONTENT IN THE MESSAGE HEADER OF AN EMAIL

PRIORITY

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of commonly owned U.S. Provisional

Patent Application Ser. No. 62/047,621, filed September 8, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present system and method relates to sending and displaying images or any other web content and, in particular, to a system and method for sending and displaying images or any other web content in areas of email designated for the sender and subject information in the message header of an email.

BACKGROUND

[0003] In computer science an image is an exact replica of the contents of a storage device (a hard disk drive or CD-ROM for example) stored on a second storage device. The term image is also used in place of the term digital image, which is an optically formed duplicate or other reproduction of an object formed by a lens or mirror. For the purposes of our description, image means, but is not limited, to pictures, photographs, documents, and any other object or thing visually represented in a digital media or web content. In general and for the purposes of our description, web content is the textual, visual or aural content that is encountered as part of the user experience on websites. It may include, among other things: text, images, sounds, videos and animations.

[0004] An email service provider, or simply provider, is a company which offers email marketing or bulk email services. An email provider may provide tracking information showing the status of email sent to each member of an address list. Email providers also often provide the ability to segment an address list into interest groups or categories, allowing the user to send targeted information to people who they believe will value the correspondence. The level of service provided can be according to supported basic features, or the number of subscribers uploaded, or the frequency of use - or any combination of the above criteria. All email providers have the same basic features and functionality, however they vary greatly in volumes, policies, and deliverability, which makes the selection of an appropriate email provider critical to both the success of an email marketing campaign and the cost effectiveness of its implementation. Currently there are hundreds of email providers.

[0005] An email client, also known as email reader, email browser, or mail user agent

(hereafter "email client") is a computer program used to access and manage a user's electronic mail, shortly email. There are a number of email clients currently used, i.e. Microsoft Outlook, IBM Lotus Notes, Pegasus Mail, Mozilla's Thunderbird, The Bat!, Eudora, Kmail, Evolution and Apple's Mail. A webmail, or a web application that provides message management composition, and reception functions, is also considered an email client or email provider. Popular web-based email clients are Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Lycos Mail, Mail.com, Outlook.com, and AOL.

[0006] Email clients facilitate the exchange of email over a network, such as a LAN

(local area network), WAN (wide area network), or public network (e.g. Internet). An Internet email message usually consists of three components, namely the message envelope, the message header, and the message body. The message header contains control information, including, minimally, an originator's name and/or email address, referred to as "From" and/or "Sender" (hereinafter interchangeable and referred as "Sender" or "From"), and a subject header field (hereinafter "Subject"), containing the brief information on the email subject, and a field for message submission date/time stamp. [0007] The message header may refer to a location where the images or web content are stored or transferred to a recipient, as well as to where they are displayed. Email clients vary in where and how content from the message header is displayed to the recipient. For the purpose of our description, the message header means both the actual areas in the underlying email header information (potentially invisible to a recipient), and areas in the email that are visually displayed to the recipient, in any place that the email client may display the Sender and Subject information, and any place that the recipient may view or otherwise access to see the Sender and Subject information.

[0008] The Sender information as well as the Subject information is usually entered in plain text with some ability for the additional use of Unicode standards. Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The Unicode standard consists of a set of code charts for visual reference, an encoding method and set of standard character encodings, a set of reference data computer files, and a number of related items, such as character properties, rules for normalization, decomposition, collation, rendering, and bidirectional display order (for the correct display of text containing both right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic and Hebrew, and left- to-right scripts). The Unicode standard is maintained, coordinated and developed by a Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organization.

[0009] Unicode standard developed a large number of very simple images known as

Unicode icons. Unicode strings (a specific designator and a number) can be sent in the Sender, Subject, and Message Body fields and will be decoded by most email providers into the relevant icon. These are essentially a dictionary lookup, with a dictionary that is known, shared and available to all. Prior to the present system and method, Unicode icons were the only images that could be displayed in the Sender, and Subject fields.

[0010] Using Unicode icons is very limiting. There is no ability to make a "custom" icon.

For example, if sender wants to insert an icon of a unicorn he or she would have to visit the Unicode icon charts to find it. If such icon is not in the charts, it cannot be inserted. Only existing icons from the Unicode database can be sent, and only basic, standard icons exist, i.e. smiley faces. There is a very large dictionary for Unicode icons, but they are mostly devoted to characters and symbols for various languages. Currently, there is no large support for unique and creative icons like a unicorn image. A sender cannot add a desired icon to the Unicode database, due to restrictions imposed by a governing body that determines what icons are kept in a database.

[0011] If you use an email client like Gmail, and are corresponding with a known contact, you may already have an image file of that person through other means. For example, you have their profile photo previously uploaded on a Facebook or Twitter profile. Gmail can allow you to use that profile and have it automatically displayed alongside any of their communications as a thumbnail image.

[0012] There are a variety of issues with the use of profile photos. They are not supported by all email providers. To display properly, the profile photo must be coming from a known contact. This contact must have a public profile photo available elsewhere on the Internet. The recipient must also have an online social relationship with the contact (i.e. Facebook or Twitter), such that email provider can establish a link and acquire the photo. This is a "pull" method from the recipient, i.e. the recipient's email provider determines if a photo will be displayed, and which photo will be used, based upon the photos' availability to the recipient. A "push" method option is not available, i.e. the sender cannot send an email in a way that would force the email provider to display their desired photo as their profile photo in the recipient's email inbox. At best, the sender can only set a desired photo anywhere online (i.e. in all their public social accounts) and hope that the recipient can and does set it as the profile photo. Sender would not be aware whether or not the recipient chooses the desired photo.

[0013] In contrast to the Sender and the Subject fields, the Message Body of the email is usually filled with the Plain text using Unicode standards and Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). HTML defines the structure and layout of a Web document by using a variety of tags and attributes. HTML is a markup language that web browsers use to interpret and compose text, images and other material into visual or audible web pages. HTML elements form the building blocks of all websites. HTML allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms. HTML embedded images are not supported by email clients for display in the Sender, and Subject fields.

[0014] The message body of an email provides a rich environment for displaying many types of content. However, in order to view this content, several operations must occur. First of all, recipient must open the email to view any rich content such as images. After that, recipient must give the web browser (or device) permission to retrieve, download, and view any image sent as external links. If images are only sent in the email body as external links, it is possible that the recipient never views them. Due to variances in the engines that power various email clients, the display of this content can look drastically different from one user to the next. Some older clients or clients that have HTML rendering engines very different from others (e.g. older Outlook or Lotus Notes), may be completely unsupported and potentially incapable of displaying the sender's content in the fashion intended for the recipient. This difference requires a very significant effort from the sender to try to ensure that the content is in a format that can be viewed by as many email clients as possible, and in as standard (non-varying) format as possible.

[0015] Some senders in their attempt to deliver a rich HTML message body to recipients will add a line to their email similar to "If you are unable to view this message, please click this link". This approach creates a possibility of the message content never making its way to the recipient, as it creates several additional problems. The recipient may opt to not follow the link and not view the content, suspecting the presence of harmful computer viruses. The recipient may click the link but be unable to view the content for a further unknown reason (e.g. the web site requires a browser or browser version that the recipient does not have installed). The recipient may opt to trust and click links in emails, potentially exposing themselves to virusware and/or phishing software, harmful to the recipient's computer.

[0016] Usually, images are contained in separate graphics files, separate from text, though they can also be considered part of the content of a page. Similarly, audio and video files are also stored separate from text. HTML allows embedding different styles into a Message Body, i.e. colors, special fonts, different structured layouts, embedded images, and file attachments.

[0017] An email can contain various file attachments that are sent along with the email and can be downloaded to a users' computer or device, and opened if the user has an application installed on their device that supports the file type of the file that was sent. Many images and web content files are supported by most devices and can be downloaded and viewed, if they are sent as an attachment to the email. Some file types, such as the Adobe Acrobat PDF, are supported by many devices. Others require unique or licensed software, such as Microsoft Word document files (e.g. files with a .doc or .docx extension), and can be downloaded, but not viewed without the appropriate software.

[0018] There are a large number of issues with using and viewing file attachments to display images or to play a web content file. Firstly, the recipient's email must survive the SPAM filter that is often designed to throw out messages with unknown attachments. Even if the message makes it through, the SPAM filter may block the attachment itself. After that, recipient must have enough storage space on the device, sufficient to fit any downloadable file attachments. Additionally, the image will not display, unless recipient has the correct application capable of opening each unique file attachment type. Many file types require expensive software license unaffordable to large numbers of recipients. Provided all of the aforementioned requirements are met, in order to view the image, recipient must be able to locate the file attachment and then download it, using the appropriate application. Many elderly, or uneducated, or less tech-sawy, recipients might miss the file attachment just for the reason of not being able to follow all necessary steps.

[0019] Due to the wide spread of computer viruses delivered via email, many users have been trained to be mistrustful of file attachments that must be downloaded to be viewed. Even if all of the limitations mentioned above are overcome, the recipient may still choose to not download an attachment for fear of infecting his or her computer with the virus. Notwithstanding concerns on the recipient's end, there is no way for the sender to know whether or not the recipient chooses to download an attachment. As a result, there often can be a needless string of back-and-forth communications between the sender and the recipient, before the recipient receives and views an image content that the sender has been trying to make available for viewing. In the world of globalization and growing competition between businesses it leads to a huge waste of time and resources.

[0020] There are currently many applications that allow sending and receiving images that are instantly displayed along with messages, i.e. SnapChat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. However, these applications are internal isolated messaging systems and not email clients, lacking the ability to send or receive email. There is a need for a simple system and method for the transfer and display of images in the email's Sender, Recipient and Subject fields that every email provider could understand and implement. Such system and method should be accessible to anyone via standard web and Simple Mail Transfer Protocols, and should not require installing or downloading any special software, nor should it require the user to open the message body of the email in order to view the sent image.

[0021] As the message body of many email providers currently supports the use of

HTML as well as Plain Text, many email providers may also support the use of Base64 encoding in the message body as well. However, Base64 is not being used for the Sender, and Subject fields of the email. Base64 is a group of similar binary-to-text encoding schemes that represent binary data in an American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) string format by translating it into a radix-64 representation. The term Base64 originates from a specific Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) content transfer encoding. Base64 encoding schemes are commonly used when there is a need to encode binary data that needs to be stored and transferred over media that are designed to deal with the textual data. This is done to ensure that the data remains intact without modification during transport. Base64 is commonly used in a number of applications including email via MIME, and storing complex data in Extensible Markup Language (XML). [0022] If images or other web content files are simply encoded in Base64 strings and incorporated in the Sender and/or Subject fields of the email, other email providers will not recognize these strings and will not convert them into images. In other words, images or web content encoded in Base64 strings in the Sender and/or Subject fields of the email would not be viewable by users of other email providers. The recipient would see the encoded string as incomprehensible Plain Text, instead of the actual image.

[0023] Until now, there was no system or method that would allow the sender to insert images in the Sender and/or Subject of the email client. Having such a method would allow the sender to provide the recipient with a display of any images or web content, including those that are not associated with images within the message body, prior to opening the message body of the email.

[0024] There is an unmet need for a system and method that will address all of those issues, providing a simple way to display images or other web content in the areas of the email that are initially provided to the recipient prior to him/her opening the message body. Such system and method will allow bypassing all problems with the current technology and avoiding all user-related issues.

[0025] Accordingly, the current invention provides a new system and method to display images and any other web content in a Sender and/or Subject fields of the email client. It is universal for all users irrespective of the type of the email client and/or other application they are running on their computers. It secures the deliverability of images to recipients, despite of possible security blockages and possible issues with recipient inability to open files with image attachments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0026] The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:

[0027] Fig. 1 is a diagram depicting the generation of the image display in the "From" and/or "Subject" field of the internal email messaging;

[0028] Fig. 2 is a diagram depicting the generation of outgoing email with image encoding in the "From" and/or "Subject" field;

[0029] Fig. 3 is a diagram depicting the method of the browser extension;

[0030] Fig. 4 is a diagram depicting the method of displaying images in received "From" and/or "Subject" fields of received emails.

[0031] Fig. 5 is a diagram depicting the method for external messaging browser extension.

[0032] Fig. 6 is a snapshot photograph of a working model based on a proposed system and method, implemented in Yahoo email client.

[0033] Fig. 7 is a snapshot photograph of a working model based on a proposed system and method, implemented in ATTLO email client.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of this disclosure is thereby intended.

[0035] A described system and method provides the sender with the ability to send any image or other web content in the Sender and/or Subject fields of the outgoing email and allows the recipient to instantly see the sent image or other web content in the Sender and/or Subject fields of the received email. This is a much more efficient and fun way for a recipient to quickly and easily identify the content of the message without needing to click through and wait for the full message to load.

[0036] A large percentage of marketing emails sent out by enterprises are made up of all kinds of images, video or audio files. Their successful delivery relies on these messages' ability to overcome the SPAM filters, and on user's ability and desire to open the emails before seeing those marketing images and posters. The proposed system and method essentially brings the contents of the email to the surface of the email wrapping, making it instantaneously visible by the recipient. The images or any other web content can now be previewed in the Sender and/or Subject fields of the email prior to the user opening the email body.

[0037] Marketers and entrepreneurs are accustomed to writing off a large percentage of their recipients that do not even open their emails. They will find that this system and method provides a new and enormous benefit allowing them to reach even those customers that don't open the email with their message.

[0038] The proposed method is not solely a standalone service or application. It can be applied directly to any existing web email client, integrating with it through the use of the email browser extension.

[0039] The proposed system and method allows displaying any images, including but not limited to pictures, and/or photographs, and any other web content in the Sender and/or Subject fields of the email. Users may send the image or web content along with a message to a new, never previously associated contact, and have it displayed in the Sender and/or Subject field of the recipient's email without the need of any interaction or additional actions by the recipient. [0040] The image that is sent could be chosen from a unique photo image saved and stored previously or taken instantly by a network-connected camera (e.g. "webcam" or phone camera). The image that is sent could be a marketing poster, graphic, info graphic, art or any other type of image, picture, photograph or visual representation of any object, artifact, or thing.

[0041] The image that is sent could be a document or file converted to display as an image, picture, or visual representation of any kind. The originating document may be of any file type, including, but not limited to Word (.doc, .docx, et al), Excel (.xls, .xlsx, et al), PowerPoint (.ppt, et al), Rich Text (.rtf, et al), Plain Text (.txt, et al), and PDF. Any document that can be converted to and/or displayed as an image may be sent.

[0042] The image that is sent could be either a portion or a full content of the email. For example, the rich HTML markup that composes the entire email message body could be converted to and displayed as an image. This guarantees that the image received by the recipient will look identical for all recipients, despite any differences in web browsers, HTML rendering engines, or email clients used by the recipient.

[0043] The image that is set as, and displayed in, the Sender and/or Subject area of the recipient's email may be shown as a thumbnail or small-size image in the recipient's inbox in the Sender and/or Subject area of the email. The image that is sent will be displayed without requiring any interaction or additional steps from the recipient, irrespective of whether or not the recipient has the sender's contact or profile information.

[0044] The image can be sent and displayed in the Sender and/or Recipient fields simultaneously with an image in the Subject field. The image in the Sender field can be the same as, or different from, the image in the Subject field. [0045] Any images sent and displayed in the Sender and/or Subject field may be displayed with or without textual information. This includes, but is not limited to, the Sender's name, email address, subject text, or any other textual information.

[0046] The image that is sent and displayed in the Sender and/or Subject fields can be a single image, a collage of compiled images, or a series of one or more individual images. The proposed system and method still allows showing plain text in the Sender and/or Subject, as well as showing plain text or rich HTML markup content in the email message body, replicating standard email capabilities.

[0047] Any other web content file could be placed instead of the image or along with the image in the Sender and/or Subject field. For the purposes of the proposed method and system, web content is any content that including, but not limited to text, images, animation, sound and video files.

[0048] One of the embodiments of the proposed system and method is designed for the internal messaging platform. An image is encoded as Base64 string, saved to the internal platform database, and the encoded string is set as the Sender and/or Subject information for the email. When the email is sent through the internal platform, it can be retrieved or viewed by the recipient. When the recipient views their inbox or individual message in the internal platform, the system decodes the Base64 strings and displays the image in the HTML view of the From, Sender, and/or Subject lines.

[0049] Another embodiment of the proposed system and method is designed for emails sent between any external email provider, or email client. An email is created, and an image is encoded as a Base64 string and added to the Sender and/or Subject header information of the email. The email is sent, and upon being received by the recipient's email client, the Base64 string is decoded and displayed in the Sender and/or Subject field, as determined by the email structure.

[0050] Since there are currently no email providers that support displaying the Base64 string as an image in the Sender and/or Subject fields of their email clients, our proposed system and method offers a unique and novel intermediate solution. A browser extension is created bringing this system and method functionality to the mail inbox of existing major email clients. This browser extension can be used until other email clients implement our system of displaying Base64 strings as images in the Sender and/or Subject fields. When that occurs, users of other email clients that have implemented our system of displaying Base64 strings as images in the Sender and/or Subject fields will no longer need the separate browser extension.

[0051] The browser extension previews the recipient's email inbox and scans for either a full Base64 string or a unique short identifier code. The system can set either the full Base64 string or the unique short identifier code in the Sender and/or Subject fields. When a short identifier code is located within the user's inbox, the browser extension makes a service call back to the originating server of the system, looks up the full Base64 string in the database associated to that unique short identifier, and returns the full string to the site. Once the extension has a usable full Base64 string, it then locates the exact positions in the HTML code for the Sender and/or Subject fields, and replaces the text that is contained there with the correct HTML code that will translate and display the Base64 as an image. As a result, the image is displayed without any manipulation by the user. Users may use this browser extension until their email clients implement our system of displaying Base64 strings as images in the Sender and/or Subject fields. Additionally, the browser extension may enhance existing email clients with the added ability of setting an image as the Sender and/or Subject area of new emails. [0052] The system or browser extension may also make use of the recipient's local web storage (e.g. HTML5 Local Storage, Browser Cookies, or any other available storage means) to cache and store the retrieved images or their representative Base64 strings. The extension can then first check for the image in the local storage and only make the server call if the image is not already present.

[0053] In lieu of setting the Base64 string directly as the Sender and/or Subject lines, the system and method may set message reference identification to the Sender and/or Subject line, referencing a MIME area in the message header information. This MIME area could then contain the full Base64 string that the email client could use to display the image, or other web content in the Sender, and/or Subject lines. If the Base64 string cannot be decoded (for example for being invalid), the email client could display a default empty image or fall back to displaying the Sender and/or Subject line as plain text.

[0054] Additionally, the system and method may use the MIME area of the message header to indicate server and method information of the sender, such that could be used by the email client to make a call back to the specified server of the sender, call the specified method defined in the MIME area, and retrieve the full Base64 string using an identifier code specified in the MIME area. The retrieved Base64 string could then be used by the email client to display the image, or other web content in the Sender and/or Subject lines. If the Base64 string cannot be decoded (for example for being invalid), the email client could display a default empty image or fall back to displaying the From, Sender, and/or Subject line as Plain Text.

[0055] A typical email client inbox will display messages in a table or grid-like fashion with a narrow line for each message, just large enough to display a single line of text. Since the proposed system and method will be displaying an image larger than regular text line, the line requires modification. For this reason, the proposed system and method modifies the HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) code on the user's inbox page that determines the size of that row and increases the size of the row appropriately to fit the image. Only the row for the email message that has an image or photo in the subject and/or sender field is adjusted, leaving the rows without images unchanged.

[0056] The proposed system and method also allows the display and preview of documents, videos, and audio including but not limited to JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP in the email subject lines. Documents are first converted to an image, followed by encoding the image into a Base64 string.

[0057] The proposed system and method allows the creation of images in any desired size, and displaying differently sized images at different places and times. For instance, a thumbnail or small size image may be displayed as the profile photo in the Sender and/or Subject line of the email in the inbox. Upon pointing a mouse cursor over the image, a larger size image may be shown. Upon opening the email message, a larger or full size image may be shown.

[0058] The browser extension provided in currently proposed system and method allows for new types of analytical actions based upon user actions in their email inbox. For instance, the proposed system and method could identify each time the message is retrieved and displayed in the inbox. Furthermore, the service could identify when the user points the mouse cursor over the image. These two types of analytical actions are not currently available via any other service. The proposed system and method could also identify when the email is opened and the message is viewed.

[0059] The proposed system and method allows for additional analytical events to occur.

Traditionally, a user desiring to recall an email message may only recall emails from server infrastructure that supports a recall function, such as, for example, Microsoft Exchange 2003 with users on a hard Outlook client. With the proposed system and method, a sender may remove any image from its store such that an end recipient cannot download the content. That is, the sender controls the image and, therefore, may delete any image content that is inappropriate or undesirable to be viewed by a recipient. This action may occur without involvement or approval from any recipient.

[0060] In addition, the proposed system and method generates an analytical event when a recipient deletes an image. Today, a sender does not receive an indication when a recipient deletes his or her email. In the event that a user deletes an image through a webmail portal and/or when using a web browser extension, the webmail portal or web browser extension may send an analytic event back to the sender indicating that the recipient deleted the image.

[0061] The proposed system and method further allows a sender to setup authentication for images. Outside of the standard email account authentication, a sender may create an additional authentication layer on any particular image. For example, a sender may require a recipient to enter a passcode, pass phrase, user name and password, certificate, or any authentication prior to gaining access to the particular image. In this example, the webmail portal or browser extension may display a placeholder image in place of the particular image until the recipient authenticates, such as, for example, a padlock or closed door.

[0062] The proposed system and method allows for a sender to create marketing rules surrounding particular images. For example, a sender may configure a particular image to expire after a certain amount of time or number of views from one or more recipients. In this example, a sender with a coupon code valid for the next ten days may elect to have the image change after the expiration of the coupon. In the event that a recipient attempts to view the image in his or her inbox after the expiration of the coupon, the image will be modified.

[0063] In addition, a sender may swap image content based on marketing information related to the recipient, such as, for example, demographic information, information related to the recipient's interaction with an email, website, or other offer, and whether a recipient has or has not opened an email within a certain amount of time. In this example, the sender may send an image related to a coupon for car insurance to a recipient that is eighteen years old but send an image related to a coupon for life insurance to a recipient that is forty years old. In this example, the demographic information related to the recipient may alter the image selected. It should be appreciated that demographic information, marketing information, and other interaction information may be stored in third party databases and systems that are accessible to the systems and methods described herein.

[0064] The proposed system and method allows for an easy application of photographic filters to photo images upon creation, e.g. sepia filter, black and white filter, and others. Such filter application permits editing the uploaded images or photographs, and displaying the revised image to a recipient.

[0065] The proposed system and method allows converting the entire message body

(complete with HTML markup, layout, special fonts, etc.) into an image. This image would be viewable to every recipient in exactly the same format, as seen by the sender. Currently such operation is not possible with any existing web mail client. Because of differences in how email providers, devices, and different browser and device versions convert and display HTML markup, none of the existing email clients can guarantee that the recipient's view of a message will be the same as the senders. By converting the email body to an image and sending it in the subject line, the system and method proposed here allows for a uniform view in any client.

[0066] The proposed system and method allows the addition of watermarks to any image, created through the use of the proposed system and method. For instance, a corporate logo, a copyright or trademark sign could be incorporated into the image as a watermark and automatically included in any images sent through that sender's email.

[0067] The proposed system and method is implemented through the use of software associated with computer. Computer may comprise of any number of different available systems (i.e. PC, Mac, Palm, PPC, etc.), incorporating a variety of different operating systems (Windows of any available variety, Mac Operating System, Palm Operating System, etc.). Computer may be, but is not limited to a server, desktop, mobile device, tablet, or any hybrid of these or other types of computing devices. Generally, each computer includes a computer data storage device (memory device), a processor, and, input and output devices. Software may be a standalone software package, or may be a plug-in that is incorporated within other existing software on computer. Computer is usually connected to an outside mail server, email compiling server, and valid email address maintaining server through various possible network connections.

[0068] Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment.

[0069] For the purposes of promoting and understanding the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to one or more illustrative embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same.

[0070] Referring to Fig. 1, a proposed system and method for Internal Messaging is depicted. After the message is received by the user and added to database, the software checks the message for the presence of text, adding the message to the email Inbox. After that the software generates two processes, analyzing the Sender and Subject area for the presence of the Base64 code. If there is no Base64 code, only text is being displayed in the Sender and/or Subject area of the email header. If Base64 code is present, the software retrieves Base64 string from the database, formats it as HTML image and displays the image in Sender and/or Subject area of the email header.

[0071] Referring to Fig. 2, a diagram depicting the generation of outgoing email with image encoding in the "From" and/or "Subject" field is shown. The sender of the email will have an option to insert an image into the Sender and/or Subject area of the email header. If no image is desired, the software automatically picks up the textual representation only, completing the email draft. If the sender chooses to insert an image into the email header, the software will provide him/her with an option to either acquire the image by taking it with a computer attached camera devise or uploading an image from a database. The software will convert the selected image into a Base64 string, setting the string in Sender and/or Subject area of the email header.

[0072] Referring to Fig. 3, a diagram depicting the method of the browser extension is shown. If the browser extension is needed for the purpose of image or web content recognition, the software will check all inbox messages for the presence of Base64 encoding in the Sender and/or Subject area of the email header. If the encoding is present, the software will format Base64 as HTML image, displaying the image in Sender and/or Subject field.

[0073] Referring to Fig. 4, a diagram depicting the method of displaying images in received "From" and/or "Subject" fields of received emails is shown. If the external user receives the email message, the software will check both Sender and Subject areas for the presence of the Base64 encoding. If no encoding is found, the software will display the text only in Sender and/or Subject area. If the encoding is present, the software will format Base64 string as HTML image, displaying it in Sender and/or Subject area.

[0074] Referring to Fig. 5, a diagram depicting the method for external messaging browser extension is shown. For external messaging, instead of sending an entire Base64 string, the software will send a short code in Sender and/or Subject area of the email header, if sender decides to insert an image there. The external browser extension software will analyze the Sender and/or Subject area for the presence of the Short Code, indicating the sender's desire to insert an image or any other web content there. If the Short Code is detected, the software will call the Remote Server, looking for the full Base64 string and returning the entire string to the recipient's computer. The returned string is formatted as HTML image, and the image is displayed in Sender and/or Subject area.

[0075] Referring to Fig. 6, a snapshot photograph of a working model based on a proposed system and method, implemented in Yahoo email client is shown. As could be seen at this figure, both images and texts are inserted in Sender and Subject areas of depicted emails in the Yahoo email client.

[0076] Referring to Fig. 7, a snapshot photograph of a working model based on a proposed system and method, implemented in ATTLO email client is shown. As could be seen at this figure, both images and texts are inserted in Sender and Subject areas of depicted emails in the ATTLO email client.

[0077] While the proposed system and method has been illustrated and described in detail in the foregoing drawings and description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims are desired to be protected.

[0078] While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying concepts are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended concepts, rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the concepts are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A computerized method, the method comprising:

receiving, at a server, an email content comprising a recipient, sender and subject, wherein at least one of the sender and subject includes an image;

encoding, at the server, a Base64 representation for the image, the Base64 representation identifying the image;

storing, in a database, the image and the Base64 representation;

sending, via the server, an email to the recipient, the email comprising the email content wherein the Base64 representation is in place of the image in the email content;

transferring, to a recipient email client, the image when the recipient views the email in the recipient email client; and

displaying, at the recipient email client, the image in place of the Base64 representation when the recipient views the email.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a short code for the Base64 representation in the database; wherein the email content in the sending step includes the short code in place of the image; and

wherein the transferring step further comprises performing a lookup in the database for the Base64 representation based on the short code.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipient email client is served to the recipient by the server over a computer network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the image comprises one of a document, a video, and an audio.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the image displayed at the recipient email client is a thumbnail of the image.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the displaying step occurs again at the time of opening the email and the image displayed at the recipient email client is full size.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipient email client is a web browser equipped with a browser plugin configured to perform the displaying step.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the email content further comprises a message body and the image is within the message body, and wherein the Base64 representation includes a MIME reference for the image.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the displaying step displays the image in the message body of the email at a location associated with the MIME reference.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the server, an indication that the recipient viewed the image.

11. A computerized method, the method comprising:

storing, in a database, the image and the Base64 representation; sending, via the server, an email to the recipient, the email comprising the email content wherein the Base64 representation is in place of the image in the email content;

receiving, at a recipient email client, the email through a webmail portal, the recipient email client being a web browser equipped with a browser plugin; and receiving, at the recipient email client, the image in place of the Base64 content in the email content when the recipient views the email.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the browser plugin is configured to request the image from the server based upon the Base64 content when the recipient email client viewing or opening the email and replace the Base64 content with the image in the email content.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the Base64 representation further comprises a server location of the image and the image is received based at least in part on the server location.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the email content further comprises a message body and the image is in the message body.

15. A system, the system comprising:

a. a database comprising a plurality of Base64 representations, each Base64 representation being associated with an image in a plurality of images; b. a server coupled to the database, the server programmed to:

i. receive an email content comprising a recipient, sender and subject, wherein at least one of the sender and subject includes at least one image from the plurality of images; ii. send an email to the recipient, the email comprising the email content wherein the associated Base64 representation with each of the at least one image is in place of each of the at least one image in the email content; c. a recipient web browser equipped with a browser plugin, the web browser with the browser plugin configured to:

i. open the email at a webmail portal;

ii. request, from the browser plugin, the at least one image from the server based in part on the associated Base64 representation;

iii. replace the associated Base64 representation with the at least one image in the email content; and

iv. display the email.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein each image in the plurality of images is one of a document, audio, and video.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the recipient web browser is further configured to allow the recipient to select from displaying the image as plain text, as plain text with the image, or as the image alone.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the browser plugin is further configured to display a thumbnail of each of the least one images upon viewing the email.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the browser plugin is further configured to display each of the at least one images in full size upon opening the email.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the email content further comprises a message body and the at least one image is within the message body, and wherein each of the associated Base64 representations of each at least one image includes a MIME reference for the at least one image.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the browser plugin is further configured to display each of the at least one images in the message body of the email at a location associated with each MIME reference.