The “Human Readable Queries” portion (scroll down on the Nested Folders link above) sounds a bit like the kind of search functionality (for email anwyay) that LookOut provides for Outlook on Windoze. (The LookOut web site implies that LookOut been absorbed into the MSN searchbar.) It could end up that Microsoft may actually own (through their acquisition of LookOut) some prior art on (portions of) this patent application…

Regardless of whether Apple gets a patent on it, it’s about time for search to suck less in Apple Mail.