Managing user definable co-user lists
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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 loge, 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.
11 Citations
125 Claims
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15. A graphical user interface produced on a computing device having a display associated therewith, the graphical user interface comprising:
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a name field displayed on the display, the name field including an area for entering a name of a co-user of a communications system; and a first selectable element displayed on the display; wherein; upon user selection of the first selectable element a co-user entered into the name field is added to a user-defined list of co-users associated with a user of the communications system; the user-defined list of co-users is maintained in a non-transitory storage medium; and the user is able to send electronic messages to users on the user-defined list of co-users. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. The graphical user interface as recited in claim Error! Reference source not found., wherein the user is able to perceive a status of co-users on the user-defined list of co-users when the user logs into the communications system.
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21. The graphical user interface as recited in claim Error! Reference source not found., further comprising a list-name field displayed on the display, the list-name field for entering a name of the user-defined list of co-users.
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22. A method comprising:
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displaying a name field on a display of a computing device, the name field including an area for entering a name of a co-user of a communications system; and displaying a first selectable element on the display; wherein; upon user selection of the first selectable element a co-user entered into the name field is added to a user-defined list of co-users associated with a user of the communications system; the user-defined list of co-users is maintained in a non-transitory storage medium; and the user is able to send electronic messages to users on the user-defined list of co-users. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that, when executed, by a computing device having a display, cause the computing device to:
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display a name field for entering a name of a co-user of a communications system; and display a first selectable element on the display; wherein; upon user selection of the first selectable element a co-user entered into the name field is added to a user-defined list of co-users associated with a user of the communications system; the user-defined list of co-users is maintained in a non-transitory storage medium; and the user is able to send electronic messages to users on the user-defined list of co-users. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A graphical user interface produced on a computing device having a display associated therewith, the graphical user interface comprising:
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at least a first interface area including one or more of; a keyword field for entering one or more search terms associated with a co-user of a communications system; a name field for entering a name associated with a co-user of the communications system;
ora location field for entering a location associated with a co-user of the communications system; and a first selectable element; wherein, upon user selection of the first selectable element, a directory of co-users is searched for any co-user profiles including any search terms included in the keyword field, the name field, or the location field. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method comprising:
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displaying at least a first interface area on a display of a computing device, the first interface area including one or more of; a keyword field for entering one or more search terms associated with a co-user of a communications system; a name field for entering a name associated with a co-user of the communications system;
ora location field for entering a location associated with a co-user of the communications system; and a first selectable element; wherein, upon user selection of the first selectable element, a directory of co-users is searched for any co-user profiles including any search terms included in the keyword field, the name field, or the location field. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that, when executed, by a computing device having a display, cause the computing device to:
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display at least a first interface area on the display, the first interface area including one or more of; a keyword field for entering one or more search terms associated with a co-user of a communications system; a name field for entering a name associated with a co-user of the communications system;
ora location field for entering a location associated with a co-user of the communications system; and a first selectable element; wherein, upon user selection of the first selectable element, a directory of co-users is searched for any co-user profiles including any search terms included in the keyword field, the name field, or the location field. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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66. A graphical user interface produced on a computing device having a display associated therewith, the graphical user interface comprising:
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a first interface area displayed on the display, the first interface area including; a name of a user-defined list of co-users, the user-defined list of co-users being associated with a user of a communications system; a number displayed in connection with the name of the user-defined list of co-users, the number indicating the number of co-users included in the user-defined list of co-users; and a first selectable option for adding co-users to the user-defined list of co-users; wherein upon user selection of the first selectable option, a second interface area is displayed on the display, the second interface area including one or more fields for entering one or more search criteria for finding a co-user of the communications system to add to the user-defined list of co-users. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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86. A method comprising:
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displaying a first interface area on a display of a computing device, the first interface area including; a name of a user-defined list of co-users, the user-defined list of co-users being associated with a user of a communications system; a number displayed in connection with the name of the user-defined list of co-users, the number indicating the number of co-users included in the user-defined list of co-users; and a first selectable option for adding co-users to the user-defined list of co-users; and displaying a second interface area on the display upon user selection of the first selectable option, the second interface area including one or more fields for entering one or more search criteria for finding a co-user of the communications system to add to the user-defined list of co-users. - View Dependent Claims (87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105)
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106. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that, when executed, by a computing device having a display, cause the computing device to:
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display a first interface area on the display, the first interface area including; a name of a user-defined list of co-users, the user-defined list of co-users being associated with a user of a communications system; a number displayed in connection with the name of the user-defined list of co-users, the number indicating the number of co-users included in the user-defined list of co-users; and
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a first selectable option for adding co-users to the user-defined list of co-users; anddisplay a second interface area on the display upon user selection of the first selectable option, the second interface area including one or more fields for entering one or more search criteria for finding a co-user of the communications system to add to the user-defined list of co-users. - View Dependent Claims (107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125)
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Specification