Method of retracting an instant message

• US 20050267942A1
• Filed: 06/01/2004
• Published: 12/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Galloway Sullivan, Malissa, Ortwein, Andrew, Quinn, Michael William, Solie, Kevin Joel, Payne, Anthony Eugene
• Granted Patent: US 7,752,271 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]

Abstract

Described is a method for retracting an instant message from a receiver in an instant messaging session. A request is made to retract the instant message from the receiver. If the receiver is present in the session, the instant message is removed from the user interface of the receiver. Notification is sent to the requestor to indicate whether the instant message was successfully retracted and whether the instant message was saved by the receiver. Optionally, the method allows an entry made in an instant messaging log to be retracted when the corresponding instant message is retracted.

Claims

1. A method for retracting an instant message from a receiver in an instant messaging session, the method comprising:

requesting that an instant message be retracted from a receiver in the instant messaging session;

retracting the instant message from the receiver if the receiver is present in the instant messaging session; and

notifying the requestor as to whether the instant message has been retracted from the receiver.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the requesting comprises selecting the message to be retracted according to an assigned message ID.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the retraction of the instant message comprises removing the instant message from a receiver user interface.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising posting an entry in a session log to indicate that a request for retraction occurred.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising removing an entry from a session log, the entry indicating that an instant message was transmitted from a sender to the receiver.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the requesting occurs at a predetermined time after the generation of the instant message to be retracted.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether a requestor requesting that the instant message be retracted is the sender of the instant message; and

preventing the retraction of the instant message if the requestor is not the sender.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether a requestor requesting that the instant message be retracted has a retraction privilege for the instant message; and

preventing the retraction of the instant message if the requestor does not have the retraction privilege.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of requesting comprises requesting that an instant message be retracted from a plurality of receivers in the instant messaging session and wherein the step of notifying comprises notifying the requestor as to whether the instant message has been retracted from each of the receivers.

10. A computer program product for use with a computer system having a requestor, a server and a receiver, the computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having embodied therein program code comprising:

program code for requesting that an instant message be retracted from an instant messaging session;

program code for retracting the instant message from the receiver if the receiver is present in the instant messaging session; and

program code for notifying the requestor as to whether the instant message has been retracted from the receiver.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein the retracting the instant message from the receiver comprises removing the instant message from a user interface.

12. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising program code for posting an entry in a session log to indicate the occurrence of the request for retraction.

13. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising program code for removing an entry from a session log, the entry indicating that an instant message was transmitted from the requestor to the receiver.

14. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising:

program code for determining whether the requestor has a retraction privilege for the instant message; and

preventing the retraction of the instant message if the requestor does not have the retraction privilege.

15. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave for use with a computer system having a requestor, a server and a receiver, the computer data signal comprising:

program code for requesting that an instant message be retracted from an instant messaging session;

program code for retracting the instant message from the receiver if the receiver is present in the instant messaging session; and

program code for notifying the requestor as to whether the instant message has been retracted from the receiver.

16. The computer data signal of claim 15 wherein the retracting the instant message from the receiver comprises removing the instant message from a user interface.

17. The computer data signal of claim 15 further comprising program code for posting an entry in a session log to indicate the occurrence of the request for retraction.

18. The computer data signal of claim 15 further comprising program code for removing an entry from a session log, the entry indicating that an instant message was transmitted from the requestor to the receiver.

19. The computer data signal of claim 15 further comprising:

program code for determining whether the requestor has a retraction privilege for the instant message; and

preventing the retraction of the instant message if the requestor does not have the retraction privilege.

20. An apparatus for retracting an instant message from a receiver in an instant messaging session, the apparatus comprising:

means for requesting that an instant message be retracted from a receiver in the instant messaging session;

means for retracting the instant message from the receiver if the receiver is present in the instant messaging session; and

means for notifying a sender as to whether the instant message has been retracted from the receiver.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising means for posting an entry in a session log to indicate the occurrence of the request for retraction.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising means for removing an entry from a session log, the entry indicating that an instant message was transmitted from a requestor to the receiver.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:

means for determining whether a requestor has a retraction privilege for the instant message; and

means for preventing the retraction of the instant message if the requestor does not have the retraction privilege.