The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 26, 2020
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2018
Jiazheng Shi, Saratoga, CA (US);
Jiazheng Shi, Saratoga, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
This invention discloses a method and apparatus for protecting message sender identity in an instant messaging system. Upon receiving an instant message via the instant messaging system, the system may withhold the identity of the sender while pushing the message to the other users in the communication channel. Identity withholding is controlled by the sender on his or her device. The disassociated message is displayed in a style that is common to users, for example, displaying in the middle, displaying in a common location, or even displaying in random locations on a screen of the message thread. Although someone can take a screenshot of a message, the screenshot does not contain any information that can be used to identify the actual sender of the message. In this case, users may generally rely on the context to appreciate the dynamics and/or flow of the conversation. The invention thus enables information sharing in an instant messaging system without the concern of screenshot.