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:
Apr. 03, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 30, 1998
Antonio DeSimone, Lebanon, NJ (US);
Elizabeth A. Hohne, Long Branch, NJ (US);
Rangamani Sundar, Freehold, NJ (US);
Vishwanathan Thiagarajan, Holmdel, NJ (US);
Kumar K. Vishwanathan, Holmdel, NJ (US);
AT & T Corp, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A plurality of users communicate in a plurality of real-time text conversations (e.g., “chat sessions”) in a client-server message processing environment using messages including a conversation index, a conversation-initiator ID and a list of message recipients. Each conversation is maintained at client terminals in an individual window. Dropping and controlled adding of conversation participants is attended by message updates to other participants. Alternative peer-to-peer message handling reduces the processing burden on servers while allowing clients to perform control and display functions. Voice or other non-text messages are also communicated using described techniques.