User definable on-line co-user lists
DCFirst Claim
1. An electronic network system that enables a user of the electronic network system to define and to perceive one or more user-created co-user lists and to track a current logon status of co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time, comprising:
- a communications network;
a user device that is structured and arranged to communicate using the communications network and that receives the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time, the user device including a graphical user interface having one or more window interfaces structured and arranged to enable;
designation by the user of one or more co-users including at least one of creating, labeling, and defining the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, wherein the co-user lists include one or more intersecting or disjoint lists of co-users,modification by the user of the co-user lists including addition or removal of co-users from the co-user lists using the graphical user interface,a display of the co-user lists that includes a visual indication of the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists, wherein at least one particular co-user list can be minimized independent of other co-user lists and the one or more windows of the graphical user interface to prevent a display of the co-users in the particular co-user list, andselection by the user of a co-user from one of the displayed co-user lists as an intended recipient of an instant message from the user; and
a logon system, remote from the user device, that monitors the logon status of the co-users and that uses the communications network to make the logon status of the co-users accessible to the user device.
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Abstract
A real time notification system that tracks, for each user, the logon status of selected co-users of an on-line or network system and displays that information in real time to the tracking user in a unique graphical interface. The invention provides user definable on-line co-user lists, or “buddy lists”, that track specific co-users in real-time automatically. A user can create many separate buddy lists of co-users, either with intersecting or disjoint lists of users, and label these buddy lists according to the user'"'"'s preference. The user can update a buddy list or create new buddy lists whenever necessary. When a user logs on to a system, the user'"'"'s set of buddy lists is presented to the buddy list system. The buddy list system attempts to match co-users currently logged into the system with the entries on the user'"'"'s buddy list. Any matches are displayed to the user. As co-users logon and logoff, a user'"'"'s buddy list is updated to reflect these changes. An indication can also be added to show that a co-user just logged on or just left the system.
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Citations
159 Claims
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1. An electronic network system that enables a user of the electronic network system to define and to perceive one or more user-created co-user lists and to track a current logon status of co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time, comprising:
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a communications network; a user device that is structured and arranged to communicate using the communications network and that receives the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time, the user device including a graphical user interface having one or more window interfaces structured and arranged to enable; designation by the user of one or more co-users including at least one of creating, labeling, and defining the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, wherein the co-user lists include one or more intersecting or disjoint lists of co-users, modification by the user of the co-user lists including addition or removal of co-users from the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, a display of the co-user lists that includes a visual indication of the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists, wherein at least one particular co-user list can be minimized independent of other co-user lists and the one or more windows of the graphical user interface to prevent a display of the co-users in the particular co-user list, and selection by the user of a co-user from one of the displayed co-user lists as an intended recipient of an instant message from the user; and a logon system, remote from the user device, that monitors the logon status of the co-users and that uses the communications network to make the logon status of the co-users accessible to the user device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method that enables a user of an electronic network system to define and to perceive one or more user-created co-user lists and to track a current logon status of co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time, the method comprising:
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receiving, at a user device, the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time; using a graphical user interface having one or more window interfaces to enable; designation by the user of one or more co-users including at least one of creating, labeling, and defining the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, wherein the co-user lists include one or more intersecting or disjoint lists of co-users, modification by the user of the co-user lists including addition or removal of co-users from the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, a display of the co-user lists that includes a visual indication of the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists, wherein at least one particular co-user list can be minimized independent of other co-user lists and the one or more windows of the graphical user interface to prevent a display of the co-users in the particular co-user list, and selection by the user of a co-user from one of the displayed co-user lists as an intended recipient of an instant message from the user; and monitoring the logon status of the co-users at a logon system that is remote from the user device and making the logon status of the co-users accessible to the user device. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A system that enables a user of an electronic network system to define and to perceive one or more user-created co-user lists and to track a current logon status of co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time, comprising:
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means for receiving, at a user device, the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists in substantially real-time; means for using a graphical user interface having one or more window interfaces to enable; designation by the user of one or more co-users including at least one of creating, labeling, and defining the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, wherein the co-user lists include one or more intersecting or disjoint lists of co-users, modification by the user of the co-user lists including addition or removal of co-users from the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, a display of the co-user lists that includes a visual indication of the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists, wherein at least one particular co-user list can be minimized independent of other co-user lists and the one or more windows of the graphical user interface to prevent a display of the co-users in the particular co-user list, and selection by the user of a co-user from one of the displayed co-user lists as an intended recipient of an instant message from the user; and means for monitoring the logon status of the co-users at a logon system that is remote from the user device and for making the logon status of the co-users accessible to the user device.
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66. A graphical user interface that enables a user of an electronic network system to define and to perceive one or more user-created co-user lists and to track a current logon status of co-users in the co-user lists substantially in real-time, comprising:
one or more window interfaces that are structured and arranged to enable; designation by the user of one or more co-users including at least one of creating, labeling, and defining the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, wherein the co-user lists include one or more intersecting or disjoint lists of co-users, modification by the user of the co-user lists including addition or removal of co-users from the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, a display of the co-user lists that includes a visual indication of the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists, wherein at least one particular co-user list can be minimized independent of other co-user lists and the one or more windows of the graphical user interface to prevent a display of the co-users in the particular co-user list; and selection by the user of a co-user from one of the displayed co-user lists as an intended recipient of an instant message from the user. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97)
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98. A computer program product embodied in a tangible computer-readable medium, the computer program product comprising instructions for enabling a user device to define and to perceive one or more user-created co-user lists and to track a current logon status of co-users in the co-user lists substantially in real-time and to enable the following operations in a graphical user interface having one or more window interfaces:
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designation by the user of one or more co-users including at least one of creating, labeling, and defining the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, wherein the co-user lists include one or more intersecting or disjoint lists of co-users, modification by the user of the co-user lists including addition or removal of co-users from the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, a display of the co-user lists that includes a visual indication of the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists, wherein at least one particular co-user list can be minimized independent of other co-user lists and the one or more windows of the graphical user interface to prevent a display of the co-users in the particular co-user list; and selection by the user of a co-user from one of the displayed co-user lists as an intended recipient of an instant message from the user. - View Dependent Claims (99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129)
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130. A system that enables a user of an electronic network system to define and to perceive one or more user-created co-user lists and to track a current logon status of co-users in the co-user lists substantially in real-time, comprising:
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means for using a graphical user interface having one or more window interfaces to enable; designation by the user of one or more co-users including at least one of creating, labeling, and defining the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, wherein the co-user lists include one or more intersecting or disjoint lists of co-users, modification by the user of the co-user lists including addition or removal of co-users from the co-user lists using the graphical user interface, a display of the co-user lists that includes a visual indication of the current logon status of the co-users in the co-user lists, wherein at least one particular co-user list can be minimized independent of other co-user lists and the one or more windows of the graphical user interface to prevent a display of the co-users in the particular co-user list; and selection by the user of a co-user from one of the displayed co-user lists as an intended recipient of an instant message from the user.
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131. A method for enabling a user to control perception, by co-users, of an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on an electronic network system, the method comprising:
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presenting a graphical user interface to a user of an electronic network system, wherein the graphical user interface includes a user-definable co-user list that enables perception of indications of co-users'"'"' presence on the electronic network system; and enabling the user to control perception, by co-users, of an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the electronic network system by selectively blocking co-users from perceiving the indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the co-users'"'"' own user-definable co-user lists. - View Dependent Claims (132, 133, 134, 135, 138, 139, 140)
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- 136. The method as in clam 131 wherein the inclusion list contains a list of co-users expressly permitted by the user to perceive the indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the electronic network system.
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141. A graphical user interface for enabling a user to control perception, by co-users, of an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on an electronic network system, comprising:
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a user-definable co-user list that enables perception of indications of co-users'"'"' presence on an electronic network system; and a preferences interface that enables a user to control perception, by co-users, of an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the electronic network system by selectively blocking co-users from perceiving an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the co-users'"'"' own user-definable co-user lists. - View Dependent Claims (142, 143, 144, 145, 146)
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147. A computer program product embodied in a tangible computer-readable medium, the computer program product including instructions that, when accessed, result in a computer performing operations comprising:
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presenting a graphical user interface to a user of an electronic network system, wherein the graphical user interface includes a user-definable co-user list that enables perception of indications of co-users'"'"' presence on the electronic network system; and enabling the user to control perception, by co-users, of an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the electronic network system by selectively blocking co-users from perceiving the indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the co-users'"'"' own user-definable co-user lists. - View Dependent Claims (148, 149, 150, 151, 154, 155, 156)
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- 152. The computer program product of clam 151 wherein the inclusion list contains a list of co-users expressly permitted by the user to perceive the indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the electronic network system.
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157. A system for enabling a user to control perception, by co-users, of an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on an electronic network system, comprising:
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means for presenting a graphical user interface to a user of an electronic network system, wherein the graphical user interface includes a user-definable co-user list that enables perception of indications of co-users'"'"' presence on the electronic network system; and means for enabling the user to control perception, by co-users, of an indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the electronic network system by selectively blocking co-users from perceiving the indication of the user'"'"'s presence on the co-users'"'"' own user-definable co-user lists. - View Dependent Claims (158, 159)
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Specification