Messaging service system and method for expanding member addition operation

• US 9,876,654 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2012
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LY Corp. (A Holdings Corp.), Z Intermediate Global Corporation
• Original Assignee: LINE Corporation (A Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Lee, Haejin, Shin, JungHo, Kim, Seong Hoon, Lee, Jungmin, Choi, Bo Yoon, Ko, Youngsu
• Primary Examiner(s): Sall, El Hadji
• Application Number:
  US13/487,326
• Publication Number:
  US 20120311052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,059 Days
• Field of Search: 709206, 709203, 709223, 709217, 709200
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport

Abstract

Provided is a messaging service system and method for adding a contact through a grouping operation. The messaging service system includes a member registering unit configured to create a group, and to register a first member designated by a user as a first participant of the group; and a member managing unit configured to disclose the group to the first participant of the group, to assign, to the first participant, a permission to add a second participant to the group, in which, the member registering unit is configured to add a second member designated by the first participant of the group as the second participant of the group, and the member managing unit is configured to display a list of members registered by the member registering unit and a list of groups created by the member registering unit.

Claims

1. A messaging service system, comprising:

a member registering unit configured to allow a user to create a group, and to register a first member designated by the user as a first participant of the group; and

a member managing unit configured to disclose the group to the first participant and assign, to the first participant, a permission to add a second participant to the group,

wherein the member registering unit is configured to add a second member designated by the first participant as the second participant of the group, and the member managing unit is configured to display a list of members registered by the member registering unit and a list of groups created by the member registering unit,

wherein the second participant is displayed in the list of groups displayed by the member managing unit, but is not displayed in the list of members displayed by the member managing unit;

wherein at least one of the first participant and the second participant is recommended to be registered as a friend of the user if the at least one of the first participant and the second participant is not registered as a friend at the time of the recommendation;

wherein the friend of the user is a member associated with the user in a messaging service,

wherein the first participant adds the second participant to the group in a case where the first participant has contact information of the second participant and the second participant accepts an invitation sent from the first participant, and

wherein the contact information includes a phone number or an email address registered in a phonebook of a mobile terminal of the first participant.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the member registering unit is configured to set whether to disclose contact information of the user to the group; and

the member managing unit is configured to disclose the contact information of the user to at least one of the participants if the member registering unit is set to allow disclosure of the contact information.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the member registering unit is configured to receive a piece of group information associated with the group, the piece of group information comprising at least one of a name, a picture, and an icon.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the member managing unit is configured to assign, to the participants of the group, at least one of a permission to edit group information and a permission to withdraw from the group.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the member managing unit is configured to set whether to disclose contact information of one of the participants of the group; and

the member managing unit is configured to disclose the contact information of the respective participant if the member registering unit is set to allow disclosure of the contact information.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the member managing unit is configured to perform a unified search to find a participant or a member from the list of members and the list of groups.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the member managing unit is configured to simultaneously display a list of recommended members and a list of recommended groups, the recommended members comprise members who requested the user to be a member, and the recommended groups comprise groups that requested the user to be a participant of the respective groups.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the member registering unit is configured to add a group to the list of groups associated with the user.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the member managing unit is configured to share with a third member, contact information of at least one of the participants.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the member managing unit is configured to add the at least one of the participants to a list of members or a list of groups associated with the third member.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the member managing unit is configured to provide contact information of one of the participants to the third member if the respective participant allows disclosure of the contact information.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the contact information of the respective participant is stored in the messaging service system or in a mobile terminal of the third member.

35. The system of claim 1, wherein the member managing unit is configured to assign, to the first participant, the permission to add the second participant to the group on condition that contact information of the second participant is input by the first participant.

38. The system of claim 1, wherein the member managing unit is configured to add the second participant to the group on condition that the second participant accepts an invitation from the first participant.

39. The system of claim 1, wherein the second participant includes a member that is automatically registered as a friend of the first participant by having contact information of the second participant included in a terminal of the first participant or vice-versa, a member recommended as a friend to the first participant, or a member that is registered by inputting contact information of the second participant to the terminal of the first participant.

13. A mobile terminal, comprising:

an interface configured to access a messaging service system that provides a messaging service; and

a display screen configured to display a service screen associated with the messaging service,

wherein the service screen is configured to receive registration of a group created by a user, the group comprising a first member designated by the user as a first participant of the group;

the service screen is configured to display a list of registered members and a list of groups and assign, to the first participant of the group, a permission to add a second member as a second participant of the group,

wherein the second participant is displayed in the list of groups displayed by the service screen, but is not displayed in the list of registered members displayed by the service screen;

wherein at least one of the first participant and the second participant is recommended to be registered as a friend of the user if the at least one of the first participant and the second participant is not registered as a friend at the time of the recommendation;

wherein the friend of the user is a member associated with the user in a messaging service,

wherein the first participant adds the second participant to the group in a case where the first participant has contact information of the second participant and the second participant accepts an invitation sent from the first participant, and

wherein the contact information includes a phone number or an email address registered in a phonebook of a mobile terminal of the first participant.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to set whether to disclose contact information of the user to the group, and the service screen is configured to disclose the contact information of the user to at least one of the participants if the service screen is set to allow disclosure of the contact information.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to receive at least one piece of group information associated with the group, the piece of group information comprising at least one of a name, a picture, and an icon.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to set whether to disclose contact information of one of the participants, and the service screen is configured to disclose the contact information of the respective participant if the service screen is set to allow disclosure of the contact information.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to perform a unified search to identify a participant or a member from the list of registered members and groups.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to display a list of recommended members and a list of recommended groups, the recommended members comprise members who requested the user to be a member, and the recommended groups comprise a list of groups that requested the user to be a participant of the respective groups.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the service screen is configured to add a group to the list of groups associated with the user.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to share contact information of at least one of the participants with a third member.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 20, wherein the service screen is configured to set to display contact information of one of the participants to the third member if the service screen is configured to allow disclosure of the contact information.

36. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to assign, to the first participant of the group, the permission to add the second member as the second participant of the group on condition that contact information of the second participant is input by the first participant.

40. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the service screen is configured to add the second member as the second participant of the group on condition that the second participant accepts an invitation from the first participant.

41. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the second participant includes a member that is automatically registered as a friend of the first participant by having contact information of the second participant included in a terminal of the first participant or vice-versa, a member recommended as a friend to the first participant, or a member that is registered by inputting contact information of the second participant to the terminal of the first participant.

22. A messaging service method using a terminal of a user that uses a processor, the method comprising:

creating a group in a messaging service by using the terminal of the user;

registering a first member using the terminal as a first participant of the group;

disclosing the group to the first participant;

assigning, to the first participant, a permission to add a second participant to the group,

wherein adding the second participant comprises adding a second member designated by the first participant as the second participant; and

displaying a list of registered members and a list of created groups using the terminal,

wherein the second participant is displayed in the list of created groups, but is not displayed in the list of registered members;

wherein at least one of the first participant and the second participant is recommended to be registered as a friend of the user if the at least one of the first participant and the second participant is not registered as a friend at the time of the recommendation;

wherein the friend of the user is a member associated with the user in a messaging service,

wherein the first participant adds the second participant to the group a case where the first participant has contact information of the second participant and the second participant accepts an invitation sent from the first participant, and

wherein the contact information includes a phone number or an email address registered in a phonebook of a mobile terminal of the first participant.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

setting whether to disclose contact information of the user; and

disclosing the contact information of the user to one of the participants of the group if the contact information is set to be disclosed.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising

receiving a piece of group information associated with the group, the piece of group information comprising at least one of a name, a picture, and an icon.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein assigning permission to the first participant comprises assigning, to the first participant, at least one of a permission to edit group information and a permission to withdraw from the group.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

setting whether to disclose contact information of one of the participants; and

disclosing the contact information of the respective participant if the contact information is set to be disclosed.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

performing a unified search for a participant or a member from the list of members and the list of groups.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein displaying the list of members and the list of groups registered by the user comprises displaying a list of members who register the user and a list of groups created by the user.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising adding a group to the list of groups associated with the user.

30. The method of claim 22, further comprising sharing contact information of at least one of the participants of the group with a third member.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one of the participants of the group is added to a list of members or a list of groups associated with the third member.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising disclosing contact information of one of the participants to the third member if the contact information of the respective participant is allowed to be disclosed.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the contact information of the respective participant is stored in the messaging service system or a terminal of the third member.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program to implement the method of claim 22.

37. The method of claim 22, wherein the assigning, to the first participant, the permission to add the second participant to the group is performed on condition that contact information of the second participant is input by the first participant.

42. The method of claim 22, wherein the assigning, to the first participant, the permission to add the second participant to the group is performed on condition that the second participant accepts an invitation from the first participant.

43. The method of claim 22, wherein the second participant includes a member that is automatically registered as a friend of the first participant by having contact information of the second participant included in a terminal of the first participant or vice-versa, a member recommended as a friend to the first participant, or a member that is registered by inputting contact information of the second participant to the terminal of the first participant.