IP Library Granted Patent US 8,751,591
Granted Patent B2
US 8,751,591 · App. 13/249,561 · Granted Jun 10, 2014

Systems and methods of adjusting contact importance for a computing device

View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,751,591
App. No.
13/249,561
Granted
Jun 10, 2014
Kind
B2
Abstract

A list of contacts is stored in at least one contact repository such as an address book of an electronic device. Contacts can be assigned an importance value. An importance value is determined for contacts based on criteria such as the recentness that a contact's information was updated or revised, how recently the contact was added to an electronic device's address book, whether a contact's website was recently accessed by an electronic device, the identity of a contact or the nature of the relationship between a contact and an electronic device. Contact importance criteria can be set in response to selections and inputs, for example via the use of slider bar on a display. Contacts can be dynamically ranked according to their importance and a ranked list of contacts can be displayed.

Claims (45)

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

importing contacts from at least one social media;

monitoring the at least one social media for at least one communication associated with each contact;

determining an importance value for each contact based at least in part on an amount of communications associated with each contact;

ranking the contacts based at least in part on the importance value associated with each contact; and

displaying the contacts based at least in part on the ranking of the contacts, wherein displaying the contacts comprises:

displaying a name for each contact and the importance value determined for each contact, and

displaying, a name of a company associated with each contact in the event a company is associated with each contact, a number of social media sources, a number of emails sent to each contact for a given period of time, a number of emails received from each contact for the given period of time, and a date of the last sent email or a date of the last received email.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the importance value for each contact based on a type of at least one monitored communication.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the importance value for each contact based on information contained within at least one monitored communication.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one social media includes social networks comprising email accounts, Linkedln®, Facebook®, Twitter®, and Chatter®.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the importance value comprises determining at least one numerical value.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the importance value includes a fixed value based on the at least one social media being monitored for communications.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the importance value of each contact is periodically adjusted based on each email exchange with each contact.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the importance value is adjusted for email exchanges over time.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising revising the importance value for a given contact in response to receiving input from an input device.

10. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one non-transitory computer readable medium in communication with the at least one processor;

at least one display in communication with the at least one processor and the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium;

at least one program module, stored on the at least one medium, and operative upon execution by the at least one processor to:

import contacts from at least one social media;

monitor the at least one social media for at least one communication associated with each contact;

determine an importance value for each contact based at least in part on an amount of communications associated with each contact;

rank the contacts based at least in part on the importance value associated with each contact; and

display on the at least one display the contacts based at least in part on the ranking of the contacts, wherein displaying the contacts comprises:

displaying a name for each contact and the importance value determined for each contact, and

displaying, a name of a company associated with each contact in the event a company is associated with each contact, a number of social media sources, a number of emails sent to each contact for a given period of time, a number of emails received from each contact for the given period of time, and a date of the last sent email or a date of the last received email.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , further comprising adjusting the importance value for each contact based on a type of at least one monitored communication.

12. The electronic device of claim 10 , further comprising adjusting the importance value for each contact based on information contained within at least one monitored communication.

13. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one social media includes social networks comprising email accounts, LinkedIn®, Facebook®, Twitter®, and Chatter®.

14. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein determining the importance value comprises determining at least one numerical value.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the importance value includes a fixed value based on the at least one social media being monitored.

16. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the importance value is periodically adjusted based on each email exchange with the contact.

17. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one non-transitory computer readable medium in communication with the at least one processor;

at least one display in communication with the at least one processor and the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium;

at least one program module, stored on the at least one medium, and operative upon execution by the at least one processor to:

import contacts from at least one social media;

receive from a remote source, an importance value for each contact based at least on an amount of communications associated with each contact;

receive from a remote source, a ranking of the contacts based on an importance value associated with each contact; and

display on the at least one display the contacts based on the ranking of the contacts, wherein displaying the contacts comprises:

displaying a name for each contact and the importance value for each contact, and

displaying, a name of a company associated with each contact in the event a company is associated with each contact, a number of social media sources, a number of emails sent to each contact for a given period of time, a number of emails received from each contact for the given period of time, and a date of the last sent email or a date of the last received email.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Apr 2, 2014
From: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 032591/0303 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 16, 2011
From: BECKER, STEPHEN, IV; TURNER, BENJAMIN JOHN
To: RESEARCH IN MOTION CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 027401/0429 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 8, 2011
From: RESEARCH IN MOTION CORPORATION
To: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
Reel/Frame 027349/0357 →