System and method for searching, finding and contacting dates on the Internet in instant messaging networks and/or in other methods that enable immediate finding and creating immediate contact
First Claim
1. A System for searching, finding and contacting dates on the Internet in instant messaging networks, comprised of at least the following elements:
- a. A Client program, located on the User'"'"'s computer;
b. At least one Server, located on the Internet;
c. At least one module for filling and/or making changes to a computer dating compatibility questionnaire;
d. A search module for finding potential dates which can check also if they are currently Online;
e. At least one of;
An ability to search also for dates who are not currently Online, and The ability to search for dates based on reciprocal compatibility;
f. An instant messaging element which knows if the user is currently Online, and also enables instant exchange of messages between users.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
When searching for new people, the current instant messaging networks typically allow users to search mainly by name or by e-mail and some of them also by interests, although one of them (Odigo) allows to search also by sex, age, area, languages, occupation & interests. However, to the best of the inventor'"'"'s knowledge there is no way to systematically search in these networks for compatible dates by attributes such as for example education, general background, appearance, attitudes, and personality, or by reciprocal compatibility in any of the above mentioned attributes. This is a waste of a huge potential since some of these networks already have more than dozens of millions of people. Also, Odigo allows searching only among people currently connected, which means that highly compatible dates can be missed just because they don'"'"'t happen to be connected at exactly the time of the search. The present invention is a novel concept which applies computer dating to the context of instant messaging, in a systematic and flexible way that to the best of the inventor'"'"'s knowledge has never been done before. This system and method enable the user to search and find instantly compatible dates in instant messaging networks on the basis of attribute search or 1-way compatibility search or 2-way compatibility search instead of being limited to search only by the limited options described above, and to search either for potential dates that are currently Online or Offline, and also take advantage of many additional features, and especially features that are based on improved integration between computer dating and instant messaging.
-
Citations
55 Claims
-
1. A System for searching, finding and contacting dates on the Internet in instant messaging networks, comprised of at least the following elements:
-
a. A Client program, located on the User'"'"'s computer;
b. At least one Server, located on the Internet;
c. At least one module for filling and/or making changes to a computer dating compatibility questionnaire;
d. A search module for finding potential dates which can check also if they are currently Online;
e. At least one of;
An ability to search also for dates who are not currently Online, and The ability to search for dates based on reciprocal compatibility;
f. An instant messaging element which knows if the user is currently Online, and also enables instant exchange of messages between users. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 28, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
-
-
4. A method for searching, finding and contacting dates on the Internet in instant messaging networks, comprised of at least the following steps:
-
a. Using a Client program, located on the User'"'"'s computer;
b. Using at least one Server, located on the Internet;
c. Using at least one module for filling and making changes to a computer dating compatibility questionnaire;
d. Using a search module for finding potential dates which can check also if they are currently Online;
e. Using at least one of;
An ability to search also for dates who are not currently Online, and The ability to search for dates based on reciprocal compatibility;
f. Using an instant messaging element which knows if the user is currently On-line, and also enables instant exchange of messages between users. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
21. In an Online dating system, a method wherein users can be notified automatically when someone new fitting a certain criterion has at least one of:
- Sent his/her data to the system, Sent his/her data to the system and is currently Online, and Performed a compatibility search for the first time.
- View Dependent Claims (22)
-
25. In an Online computer dating service, a method wherein at least one of the following features exist:
-
a. Everyone must include also his/her phone number so that they can be contacted by phone. b. If the user does not want his/her phone number exposed to other users without control, he/she can mark his/her phone as “
protected”
, which means that other users access his/her phone only through the system without knowing the real number, until the user decides to give them the actual number.c. “
Protected phones”
can at least one of;
Be accessed only at reasonable times that can be defined by the system and/or by the user, Be accessed by each user only a limited number of times, and Be accessed until blocked.d. When dialing to a protected phone the call is done by at least one of;
1. Direct activation though the client program—
if it is done from a cellular phone connected to the Internet, or from a computer with a microphone and sound card, 2. Through phoning a special number and then clicking the code, and the server there automatically routes the call to the real number.
-
Specification