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. 04, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 09, 2000
John C. Tang, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Nicole Y. Mordecai, Weston, MA (US);
James M. A. Begole, Mountain View, CA (US);
Janak R. Bhalodia, Indio, CA (US);
Max G. Van Kleek, Charlestown, MA (US);
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides methods and systems for providing distributed parties reciprocal information regarding each other's activities. For example, the method of the invention provides selected information regarding the availability of an intended recipient to engage in a communication session with an initiator, and reciprocally informs the intended recipient of the initiator's access to such information. Further, the method of the invention can provide a signal to an intended recipient to indicate an initiator's intention to establish a communication session. Further, the method of the invention provides a signal to each party to indicate whether a communication session has been established. In another aspect, the invention provides a method for informing the participants in a communication session of a party's intention to terminate its participation in the session.