Implicit access for communications pathway
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- determining whether a first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of a second user;
determining whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user; and
regulating a communications pathway between a first client device associated with the first user and a second client device associated with the second user based on both the determination of whether the first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user and the determination of whether the second user is included on a user list of instant messaging application associated with the first user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Communication applications may include lists of users with which a user of the application communicates. If two users of a communications application each include the other user on their user lists, an implicit trust may be established between the users. For example, if user A includes user B in her list and user B includes user A in his list, then it may be determined that each user knows and/or trusts the other user. As a result, a connection or communications pathway may be automatically created between the client devices of the users to facilitate communications between the users based on the implicit trust.
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Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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determining whether a first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of a second user; determining whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user; and regulating a communications pathway between a first client device associated with the first user and a second client device associated with the second user based on both the determination of whether the first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user and the determination of whether the second user is included on a user list of instant messaging application associated with the first user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A communications system comprising:
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a first client device associated with a first user and including an instant messaging application; a second client device associated with a second user and including an instant messaging application; and a host to determine whether the first user is included on a user list of the instant messaging application of the second client device, and to determine whether the second user is included on a user list of the instant messaging application of the first client device, and to regulate a communications pathway between the first client device and the second client device based on both the determination of whether the first user is included on a user list of the instant messaging application of the second client device and the determination of whether the second user is included on a user list of the instant messaging application of the first device. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A host system comprising:
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an interface to receive a communication from a first client device associated with a first user and to transmit a communication to a second client device associated with a second user; storage to store a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the first user and to store a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user; and a host to determine an identifier of the first user and an identifier of the second user associated with a received message, to determine whether the first user list includes the second user identifier, to determine whether the second user list includes the first user identifier, and to regulate a communications pathway between the first and second client devices based on both the determination of whether the first user list includes the second user identifier and the determination of whether the second user list includes the first user identifier. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A method comprising:
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determining whether a first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of a second user; determining whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user; and inferring an implicit trust between the first user and the second user based on both the determination of whether the first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user and the determination of whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user. - View Dependent Claims (57)
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58. A system comprising:
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means for determining whether a first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of a second user; means for determining whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user; and means for regulating a communications pathway between a first client device associated with the first user and a second client device associated with the second user based on both the determination of whether the first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user and the determination of whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user.
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59. A communications system comprising:
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a first client device associated with a first user and including an instant messaging application; a second client device associated with a second user and including an instant messaging application; and a host to determine whether the first user is included on a user list of the instant messaging application of the second client device, and to determine whether the second user is included on a user list of the instant messaging application of the first client device, and to infer an implicit trust between the first user and the second user based on both the determination of whether the first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user and the determination of whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user.
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60. A host system comprising:
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an interface to receive a communication from a first client device associated with a first user and to transmit a communication to a second client device associated with a second user; storage to store a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the first user and to store a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user; and a host to determine an identifier of the first user and an identifier of the second user associated with a received message, to determine whether the first user list includes the second user identifier, to determine whether the second user list includes the first user identifier, and to infer an implicit trust between the first user and the second user based on both the determination of whether the first user is included on a user list associated with an instant messaging application of the second user and the determination of whether the second user is included on a user list of an instant messaging application associated with the first user.
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Specification