IP Library Granted Patent US 9,247,401
Granted Patent B2
US 9,247,401 · App. 14/182,596 · Granted Jan 26, 2016

Signature control for SMS

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,247,401
App. No.
14/182,596
Granted
Jan 26, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

A social messaging hub provides communication services for a data enabled device having Internet network access capabilities. A user is given a registered phone number and unique IP addressable identification which serve as a source and destination identifier of the associated data enabled device. User signatures can be appended onto SMS messages and using resources on the social messaging hub a user can control when the signatures are appended.

Claims (16)

1. A method for controlling signatures appended to Short Message Service/Multimedia Messaging Service/Enhanced Messaging Service (SMS/MMS/EMS) communications comprising:

assigning to a user of a data enabled device a unique identifier;

associating the unique identifier with a data enabled device identifier;

registering the unique identifier to data enabled device identifier

association in a database;

receiving a sender signature;

receiving a sender defined signature control criterion including an interval for appending the signature onto the SMS message;

maintaining a sender-recipient history;

determining whether to append the signature onto an SMS message as a function of the sender defined signature control criterion and the sender-recipient history; and

providing the SMS message to a message service for delivery to a message recipient indicated by an SMS destination identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sender defined signature control criterion further specifies that the criterion is to be applied to a message thread.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination whether to append the signature is made remotely from the data enabled device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the signature is stored remote from the data enabled device.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the signature is stored on a social media hub.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the signature is stored in a cloud storage system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sender defined signature control criterion interval comprises a default interval.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 4, 2026
From: HEYWIRE, INC.
To: SALESFORCE, INC.
Reel/Frame 075519/0394 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Feb 29, 2016
From: MEDIAFRIENDS, INC.
To: HEYWIRE, INC.
Reel/Frame 037952/0106 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 18, 2014
From: LAUDER, GARY M.
To: MEDIAFRIENDS, INC.
Reel/Frame 032234/0410 →