Message notification in instant messaging

• US 9,071,464 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2008
• Issued: 06/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Jacovi, Michal, Soroka, Vladimir
• Primary Examiner(s): SISON, JUNE Y
• Application Number:
  US12/128,843
• Publication Number:
  US 20080307061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,588 Days
• Field of Search: 709/207
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails

Abstract

Methods, apparatus and systems for message notification in instant messaging are provided in which a message in an instant messaging session is received at a client application. The content of the received message is compared with a set of entries and the content is matched with an entry. Notification of a new message is displayed in a form representing the matched entry. Each entry may be associated with a category and the step of displaying notification represents the category of the matched entry. The entries may be any one of or a combination of words, phrases and/or symbols which commonly appear in messages such that a user can determine the category of a message content without focusing on the message.

Claims

1. A method for message notification in instant messaging having a messaging window with a first size and a minimized size smaller than the first size and in which the content of an instant message is out of focus, the method comprising:

receiving a message from a first user with a first user'"'"'s computing device at a second user'"'"'s computing device, the message including a sender identification that identifies the first user and content, the content being different than the sender identification;

comparing with a parser running on the second user'"'"'s computing device the content of the received message with a set of entries in a database, each entry being associated with a category;

matching the content with a one of the entries, wherein the category associated with the one of the entries includes positive and negative categories and the content having additional information with additional different one or more categories provided for the message, each additional category having an associated form of notification provided for each of the additional category; and

displaying a notification of the category of the one of the entries in the messaging window while it is in the minimized smaller size on the second user'"'"'s computing device without expanding the messaging window to its first size to allow the content to be read and displaying the notification in a form representing the category of a message content and representing the associated form of notification provided for each of the additional category.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the set of entries includes at least one of:

words, phrases and symbols.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of matching matches all of the content of the received message to an entry.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of matching matches part of the content the received message and the form of displaying notification is represented accordingly.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the category associated with each entry includes positive and negative categories of entry.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein entries are added or removed to or from the set of entries.