Rendering destination instant messaging personalization items before communicating with destination

• US 20030222907A1
• Filed: 12/31/2002
• Published: 12/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Odell, James A., Heikes, Brian, Zhang, Xiaopeng, Yin, Xiaoyan, Wick, Andrew L., Uberti, Justin
• Granted Patent: US 7,689,649 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/745
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

Perception of a personalization item in an instant messaging communications session may be enabled by perceiving an identifier corresponding to an intended instant message recipient designated by an instant message sender system, accessing personalization items corresponding to the perceived identifier, and making perceivable the personalization items corresponding to the received identifier to the instant messaging sender system for rendering in an instant messaging application running on the instant messaging sender system, where the personalization items are made perceivable prior to communication with the intended instant message recipient.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for enabling perception of a personalization item associated with an instant messaging communications session, the method comprising:

perceiving an identifier corresponding to an intended instant message recipient designated by an instant message sender system;

accessing personalization items corresponding to the perceived identifier; and

making perceivable the personalization items corresponding to the received identifier to the instant messaging sender system for rendering in an instant messaging application running on the instant messaging sender system, wherein the personalization items are made perceivable prior to communication with the intended instant message recipient.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing one or more personalization items comprises storing one or more personalization items on the host system.

3. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing personalization items on a host system.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising communicating the personalization items from the host system to the instant message sender system.

5. The method of claim 1 in which the personalization items are made perceivable prior to communication of an instant message with the intended instant message recipient system.

6. The method of claim 1 in which the personalization items are made perceivable before a communications session is established with the intended instant message recipient system.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the personalization items are made perceivable before the instant message sender system sends a message to the intended instant message recipient system.

8. The method of claim 1 in which the personalization items are made perceivable before the instant message sender system receives a message from the intended instant message recipient system.

9. The method of claim 1 in which perceiving the identifier comprises:

receiving an identity of the intended instant message recipient; and

accessing an identifier associated with the individual intended instant message recipient based upon the received identity.

10. The method of claim 1 in which perceiving the identifier comprises receiving an identifier comprising a location of the personalization item.

11. The method of claim 10 in which the location of the personalization item comprises a location on the host system.

12. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing a graphic.

13. The method of claim 12 in which the graphic comprises an icon.

14. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing a sound.

15. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing wallpaper capable of being rendered on an instant messaging application user interface.

16. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing an animation sequence.

17. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing a video segment.

18. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing a customized binary object provided by the intended instant message recipient.

19. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing a personalization item provided by a party other than the intended instant message recipient.

20. The method of claim 19 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing a personalization item enabled to be rendered in consideration of a payment.

21. The method of claim 1 in which accessing personalization items comprises accessing a personalization item configured to expire upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

22. The method of claim 21 in which the predetermined event comprises passage of a predetermined length of time or on passage of a predetermined date.

23. The method of claim 21 in which the predetermined event comprises a predetermined number of uses.

24. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

determining whether the personalization item has expired, and

disallowing access to the personalization item if the personalization item has expired.

25. The method of claim 1 in which perceiving the identifier further comprises receiving an identifier comprising a location of the personalization item.

26. The method of claim 25 in which the identifier further comprises an item type and a data size.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the identifier further comprises a flag.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the flag further comprises one or more of a custom item flag, an official item flag, a banned item flag, and a redirect to different item flag.

29. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether the personalization item has been banned, and

disallowing access to the personalization item if the personalization item has been banned.

30. A computer program, stored on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising instructions for:

perceiving an identifier corresponding to an intended instant message recipient designated by an instant message sender system;

accessing personalization items corresponding to the perceived identifier; and

making perceivable the personalization items corresponding to the received identifier to the instant messaging sender system for rendering in an instant messaging application running on the instant messaging sender system, wherein the personalization items are made perceivable prior to communication with the intended instant message recipient.

31. The computer program of claim 30 further comprising instructions for storing one or more personalization items.

32. The computer program of claim 30 in which the personalization items are made perceivable prior to communication of an instant message with the intended instant message recipient system.

33. The computer program of claim 30 in which the personalization items are made perceivable before a communications session is established with the intended instant message recipient system.

34. The computer program of claim 30 in which the personalization items are made perceivable before the instant message sender system sends a message to the intended instant message recipient system.

35. The computer program of claim 30 in which the personalization items are made perceivable before the instant message sender system receives a message from the intended instant message recipient system.

36. The computer program of claim 30 in which instructions for perceiving the identifier comprises instructions for:

receiving an identity of the intended instant message recipient; and

accessing an identifier associated with the individual intended instant message recipient based upon the received identity.

37. The computer program of claim 30 in which instructions for accessing personalization items comprises instructions for accessing a personalization item configured to expire upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

38. The computer program of claim 37 in which the predetermined event comprises passage of a predetermined length of time or on passage of a predetermined date.

39. The computer program of claim 37 in which the predetermined event comprises a predetermined number of uses.

40. A computer implemented method for enabling perception of a personalization item in an instant messaging communications session, the method comprising:

rendering, on an instant message sender system, an instant messaging application user interface for an instant messaging communications session involving at least an intended instant message recipient and an instant message sender; and

rendering at the instant message sender system, a personalization item associated with the instant message recipient prior to communication with the intended instant message recipient system.

41. The method of claim 40 in which rendering at the instant message sender system comprises rendering at the instant message sender system prior to communication of an instant message with the intended instant message recipient system.

42. The method of claim 40 in which rendering at the instant message sender system comprises rendering at the instant message sender system before a communications session is established with the intended instant message recipient system.

43. The method of claim 40 in which rendering at the instant message sender system comprises rendering at the instant message sender system before the instant message sender system sends a message to the intended instant message recipient system.

44. The method of claim 40 in which rendering at the instant message sender system comprises rendering at the instant message sender system before the instant message sender system receives a message from the intended instant message recipient system.

45. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

associating the identifier with the personalization item;

obtaining the personalization item from a source other than a message used to obtain the identifier; and

rendering the personalization item at the instant message sender system.

46. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the identifier comprises:

sending an identity of the intended instant message recipient to an instant message host system, the instant message host system storing one or more identifiers associated with one or more personalization items for the intended instant message recipient; and

receiving an identifier associated with the individual intended instant message recipient in a message from the instant message host system.

47. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the identifier comprises locating the identifier at the intended instant message recipient system.

48. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the identifier comprises retrieving the identifier from a remote data store.

49. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises:

determining whether the personalization item associated with the received identifier is available at the instant message sender system;

retrieving the personalization item from the instant message sender system if the personalization item is available at the instant message sender system; and

requesting the personalization item from a remote source and receiving the personalization item from the remote source at the instant message sender system if the personalization item is not available at the instant message sender system.

50. The method of claim 49 in which requesting the personalization item further comprises identifying the remote source.

51. The method of claim 49 in which requesting the personalization item comprises requesting the personalization item from an instant messaging host.

52. The method of claim 49 in which requesting the personalization item comprises requesting the personalization item from a third-party server.

53. The method of claim 52 in which requesting the personalization item from a third-party server comprises requesting the personalization item from a server authorized as a partner to an instant messaging host.

54. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the identifier comprises receiving the identifier upon a change in a presence state of the intended instant message recipient.

55. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining a graphic.

56. The method of claim 55 in which the graphic comprises an icon.

57. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining a sound.

58. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining wallpaper capable of being rendered on an instant messaging application user interface.

59. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining an animation sequence.

60. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining a video segment.

61. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining a customized binary object provided by the intended instant message recipient.

62. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining a personalization item provided by a party other than the intended instant message recipient.

63. The method of claim 62 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining a personalization item enabled to be rendered in consideration of a payment.

64. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the personalization item comprises obtaining a personalization item configured to expire upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

65. The method of claim 64 in which the predetermined event comprises passage of a predetermined length of time or on passage of a predetermined date.

66. The method of claim 64 in which the predetermined event comprises a predetermined number of uses.

67. The method of claim 64 further comprising:

determining whether the personalization item has expired, and

disallowing display of the personalization item if the personalization item has expired.

68. The method of claim 40 in which obtaining the identifier further comprises obtaining an identifier comprising a location of the personalization item.

69. The method of claim 68 in which the identifier further comprises an item type and a data size.

70. The method of claim 68 wherein the identifier further comprises a flag.

71. The method of claim 70 wherein the flag further comprises one or more of a custom item flag, an official item flag, a banned item flag, and a redirect to different item flag.

72. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

determining whether the personalization item has been banned, and

disallowing display of the personalization item if the personalization item has been banned.

73. The method of claim 40 further comprising updating the personalization item.

74. A computer program, stored on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising instructions for:

rendering, on an instant message sender system, an instant messaging application user interface for an instant messaging communications session involving at least an intended instant message recipient and an instant message sender; and

rendering at the instant message sender system, a personalization item associated with the instant message recipient prior to communication with the intended instant message recipient system.

75. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system comprises instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system prior to communication of an instant message with the intended instant message recipient system.

76. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system comprises instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system before a communications session is established with the intended instant message recipient system.

77. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system comprises instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system before the instant message sender system sends a message to the intended instant message recipient system.

78. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system comprises instructions for rendering at the instant message sender system before the instant message sender system receives a message from the intended instant message recipient system.

79. The computer program of claim 74 further comprising instructions for:

associating the identifier with the personalization item;

obtaining the personalization item from a source other than a message used to obtain the identifier; and

rendering the personalization item at the instant message sender system.

80. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the identifier comprises instructions for:

sending an identity of the intended instant message recipient to an instant message host system, the instant message host system storing one or more identifiers associated with one or more personalization items for the intended instant message recipient; and

receiving an identifier associated with the individual intended instant message recipient in a message from the instant message host system.

81. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the identifier comprises instructions for locating the identifier at the intended instant message recipient system.

82. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the identifier comprises instructions for retrieving the identifier from a remote data store.

83. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for:

determining whether the personalization item associated with the received identifier is available at the instant message sender system;

retrieving the personalization item from the instant message sender system if the personalization item is available at the instant message sender system; and

requesting the personalization item from a remote source and receiving the personalization item from the remote source at the instant message sender system if the personalization item is not available at the instant message sender system.

84. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for obtaining a graphic.

85. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for obtaining a sound.

86. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for obtaining wallpaper capable of being rendered on an instant messaging application user interface.

87. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for obtaining an animation sequence.

88. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for obtaining a video segment.

89. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for obtaining a customized binary object provided by the intended instant message recipient.

90. The computer program of claim 74 in which instructions for obtaining the personalization item comprises instructions for obtaining a personalization item configured to expire upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

91. The computer program of claim 90 in which the predetermined event comprises passage of a predetermined length of time or on passage of a predetermined date.

92. The computer program of claim 90 in which the predetermined event comprises a predetermined number of uses.

93. The computer program of claim 90 further comprising instructions for:

determining whether the personalization item has expired, and

disallowing display of the personalization item if the personalization item has expired.

94. The computer program of claim 74 further comprising instructions for:

determining whether the personalization item has been banned, and

disallowing display of the personalization item if the personalization item has been banned.