Granted Patent B2

US 12,744,751 · App. 18/230,502 · Granted Sep 22, 2026

Inventors: Warren Roy (London, GB); Xavier Jover Segura (London, GB); Alfred Scholldorf (New York, NY); Philip Persad (Vancouver, CA)

Assignee: GLOBAL RELAY COMMUNICATIONS INC.

H04L51/04H04L51/56H04L67/306

Abstract

Claims (70)

1 . A method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages, the method comprising executing instructions on a processor at a server that:

for a first user account for a first user associated to the organization, define a first message space accessible through electronic devices in communication with the server, the first message space accommodating peer-to-peer administration by users in the organization, the first message space providing facilities for

identifying an owner for the first message space;

retaining and preserving messages in a manner based on retention parameters associated with the organization; and

creating a message channel in the first message space for messages between one or more users in the organization and one or more additional organizations;

for a third-party communication system accessed by the server for communications with the first user,

create for the first user a third-party user account for the third-party communication system; and

for a validated the third-party user account for the first user, process a third-party communication system message sent between the first user and an external user of the third-party communication system;

decrypt the message;

archive contents of the message; and

then encrypt again the message,

wherein

account privileges of the owner follow an organization policy for the organization and provide the first user with privileges in managing the first message space reflecting the organization policy; and

the additional organizations associated with the first message space are peers with respect to the first organization and to each other.

2 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising executing further instructions on the processor that:

upon receipt of the third-party communication system message, archive the third-party communication system message,

wherein

the third-party communication system message received by the processor is not encrypted.

3 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the third-party communication system is a WhatsApp communication system.

4 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 3 , wherein:

the third-party communication system message is an outbound message from the first user account being sent to the third-party communication system that is first encrypted at the first device; and

after archiving contents of the outbound message, the method further comprises executing further instructions on the processor that send the outbound message to the third-party communication system.

5 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the outbound message is a bulk message addressed to multiple user accounts of the third-party communication system.

6 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 5 , wherein archiving the bulk message utilizes a template of the bulk message and a list of placeholder fields for addressees.

7 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 3 , wherein:

the third-party communication system message is an inbound message being sent to the first account from the third-party communication system; and

the method further comprises executing further instructions on the processor that:

decrypt the inbound message;

archive contents of the inbound message;

then encrypt the inbound message again; and

send the inbound message the first user account.

8 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 7 , the method further comprising executing instructions on the processor that:

check for an opt-out status for messages sent from the external user to the third-party user account; and

send a message to the first user account about the inbound message from the external user.

9 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 7 , the method further comprising executing instructions on the processor that:

check for an opt-out status for messages sent from the external user to the third-party user account; and

record data about the inbound message from the external user and the opt-out status of the third-party user account.

10 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 7 , wherein for third-party user account and the inbound message, the method comprises executing instructions on the processor that:

check for an opt-out status for messages sent from the external user to the third-party user account; and

do not send the inbound message to the first user account if the opt-out status indicates that the first user account opts-out from receiving messages from the external user.

11 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the first user account is part of a group of accounts for the organization for the third-party communication system.

12 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 2 , wherein a virtual phone number is associated with the third-party user account, which is used to validate the third-party user account.

13 . The method for managing encrypted third-party electronic messages for an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages as claimed in claim 2 , wherein a real phone number is associated with the third-party user account, which is used to validate the third-party user account.

14 . A server for managing electronic messages associated with an organization having a regulatory requirement to retain business-related electronic messages, the server comprising:

a memory storage device;

a communication link to an electronic device; and

a processor executing instructions from the memory storage device that:

for a first user account for a first user associated to the organization, define a first message space accessible through electronic devices in communication with the server, the first message space accommodating peer-to-peer administration by users in the organization, the first message space providing facilities for

identifying an owner for the first message space;

retaining and preserving messages in a manner based on retention parameters associated with the organization; and

creating a message channel in the first message space for messages between one or more users in the organization and one or more additional organizations; and

for a third-party communication system accessed by the server for communications with the first user,

create for the first user a third-party user account for the third-party communication system; and

for a validated the third-party user account for the first user, process a third-party communication system message sent between the first user and an external user of the third-party communication system,

wherein

account privileges of the owner follow an organization policy for the organization and provide the first user with privileges in managing the first message space reflecting the organization policy; and

the additional organizations associated with the first message space are peers with respect to the first organization and to each other.

15 . The server as claimed in claim 14 , the processor further executes instructions that:

upon receipt of the third-party communication system message, archive the third-party communication system message,

wherein

the third-party communication system message received by the processor is not encrypted.

16 . The server as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the third-party communication system is a WhatsApp communication system.

17 . The server as claimed in claim 16 , wherein:

the third-party communication system message is an outbound message from the first user account being sent to the third-party communication system that is first encrypted at the first device; and

the processor further executes instructions that:

decrypt the outbound message;

archive contents of the outbound message;

encrypt again the outbound message; and

then send the outbound message to the third-party communication system.

18 . The server as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the outbound message is a bulk message addressed to multiple user accounts of the third-party communication system.

Assignments (5)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (12)