Facilitating communications between computer users across a network
First Claim
1. A method of facilitating communications across a network between users of at least one instant messaging program, the method comprising:
- providing a stand-alone icon that represents a contact or set of contacts of a user, wherein the icon is configured to allow the user to initiate and perform actions available from an interface of an instant messaging program that are associated with the contact or set of contacts regardless of whether an instant messaging program is running when an operation is performed on the icon;
receiving status information regarding the contact or set of contacts;
displaying the status information regarding the contact or set of contacts using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon;
recognizing that an operation associated with at least one action has been performed on the icon, wherein the action is related to the contact or set of contacts and is the same as an action that would be executed in response to an operation performed on a representation of the contact or set of contacts in the user interface of the instant messaging program; and
executing the action in response to the operation performed on the icon.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A stand-alone icon (i.e., an icon that is not part of an application interface) is provided to facilitate communications across a network between users of at least one communications program. The icon represents a contact or a set of contacts. Status information regarding the contact or set of contacts is received and displayed using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon. The icon additionally may provide an interface for performing actions related to the contact or set of contacts. The actions may generally include, for example, retrieving profile information about the contact, setting an alert to indicate that the contact'"'"'s network/login status (e.g., login, logout, or idle) has changed, or performing communications with the contact.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of facilitating communications across a network between users of at least one instant messaging program, the method comprising:
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providing a stand-alone icon that represents a contact or set of contacts of a user, wherein the icon is configured to allow the user to initiate and perform actions available from an interface of an instant messaging program that are associated with the contact or set of contacts regardless of whether an instant messaging program is running when an operation is performed on the icon; receiving status information regarding the contact or set of contacts; displaying the status information regarding the contact or set of contacts using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon; recognizing that an operation associated with at least one action has been performed on the icon, wherein the action is related to the contact or set of contacts and is the same as an action that would be executed in response to an operation performed on a representation of the contact or set of contacts in the user interface of the instant messaging program; and executing the action in response to the operation performed on the icon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A tangible computer-usable storage medium storing a computer program for facilitating communications across a network between users of at least one instant messaging program, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
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provide a stand-alone icon that represents a contact or set of contacts of a user, wherein the icon is configured to allow the user to initiate and perform actions available from an interface of an instant messaging program that are associated with the contact or set of contacts regardless of whether an instant messaging is running when an operation is performed on the icon; receive status information regarding the contact or set of contacts; display the status information regarding the contact or set of contacts using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon; recognize that an operation associated with at least one action has been performed on the icon, wherein the action is related to the contact or set of contacts and is the same as an action that would be executed in response to an operation performed on a representation of the contact or set of contacts in the user interface of the instant messaging program; and execute the action in response to the operation performed on the icon. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for facilitating communications across a network between users of at least one instant messaging program, the system comprising:
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means for providing a stand-alone icon that represents a contact or set of contacts of a user, wherein the icon is configured to allow the user to initiate and perform actions available from an interface of an instant messaging program that are associated with the contact or set of contacts regardless of whether an instant messaging program is running when an operation is performed on the icon; means for receiving status information regarding the contact or set of contacts of; means for displaying the status information regarding the contact or set of contacts using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon; means for detecting that an icon representing information to be transmitted to the contact or set of contacts has been dropped on the icon representing the contact or set of contacts, and means for automatically transmitting the information represented by the dropped icon to the contact or set of contacts in response to the icon representing information to be transmitted being dropped on the icon representing the contact or set of contacts. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of facilitating communications across a network between users of at least one instant messaging program, the method comprising:
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providing a stand-alone icon that represents a contact or set of contacts of a user, wherein the icon is configured to allow the user to initiate and perform actions available from an interface of an instant messaging program that are associated with the contact or set of contacts regardless of whether an instant messaging program is running when an operation is performed on the icon; receiving status information regarding the contact or set of contacts; displaying the status information regarding the contact or set of contacts using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon; detecting that an icon representing information to be transmitted to the contact or set of contacts has been dropped on the icon representing the contact or set of contacts, and automatically transmitting the information represented by the dropped icon to the contact or set of contacts in response to the icon representing information to be transmitted being dropped on the icon representing the contact or set of contacts. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification