Direct information copy and transfer between real-time messaging applications
First Claim
1. A system for transferring information from an instant message to a personal information manager application comprising:
- a user transfer invoker operable by a user within an electronic message display;
an action menu displayed to an user responsive to operation of said invoker, said action menu containing one or more user-selectable transfer actions;
an intermediate menu displayed to user responsive to selection of an action from said action menu, said intermediate menu containing one or more user-selectable fields; and
an information transfer assistant configured to populate said action menu with actions, to populate said intermediate menu with said fields, to receive said action and field selections, and to operate an application programming interface for a personal information management (PIM) application program to accomplish said user-selected action with said user-selected fields having information values selected from said electronic message display.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Information transfer between instant messaging applications and configured personal information management application programs such as electronic address books, date books, phone books, to do list, and the like, is automated to alleviate burdensome and tedious user actions of manually cutting and pasting several strings of text from the instant messaging user interface and the user interface for the personal information management application program. Upon invocation, such as by highlighting text in the messaging window and right-clicking it, an action menu is displayed. The user selects an action, such as “add to calendar”, and an intermediate menu is displayed for the user to select a field to which the highlighted text applies, such as “date”. After a series of quick selections and designations, the system completes the action using the application programming interface for the appropriate PIM application program.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for transferring information from an instant message to a personal information manager application comprising:
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a user transfer invoker operable by a user within an electronic message display;
an action menu displayed to an user responsive to operation of said invoker, said action menu containing one or more user-selectable transfer actions;
an intermediate menu displayed to user responsive to selection of an action from said action menu, said intermediate menu containing one or more user-selectable fields; and
an information transfer assistant configured to populate said action menu with actions, to populate said intermediate menu with said fields, to receive said action and field selections, and to operate an application programming interface for a personal information management (PIM) application program to accomplish said user-selected action with said user-selected fields having information values selected from said electronic message display. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An automated computer-implemented method for transferring information from an instant message to a personal information manager (PIM) application program, the method comprising the steps of:
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invoking a PIM transfer assistant function by a user from a display of an electronic message;
displaying to said user responsive to said invocation an action menu containing one or more user-selectable transfer actions;
responsive to selection of an action from said action menu, displaying an intermediate menu containing one or more user-selectable fields; and
operating an application programming interface for a PIM application program to accomplish said user-selected action with said user-selected fields having information values selected from said electronic message display. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-readable medium encoded with software for transferring information from an instant message to a personal information manager (PIM) application program, the software performing the steps of:
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invoking a PIM transfer assistant function by a user from a display of an electronic message;
displaying to said user responsive to said invocation an action menu containing one or more user-selectable transfer actions;
responsive to selection of an action from said action menu, displaying an intermediate menu containing one or more user-selectable fields; and
operating an application programming interface for a PIM application program to accomplish said user-selected action with said user-selected fields having information values selected from said electronic message display. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification