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:
Sep. 06, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 03, 1999
Vivek Kapil, Lewisville, TX (US);
John R. Stevens, Plano, TX (US);
Alwarkurichi Nagaraj, Toronto, CA;
Vivek Kapil, Lewisville, TX (US);
John R. Stevens, Plano, TX (US);
Alwarkurichi Nagaraj, Toronto, CA;
Nortel Networks Limited, St. Laurent, CA;
Abstract
A communications system includes a plurality of communities each associated with a service provider. Text-based messaging sessions, such as chat sessions, may be established between users in the communities. A request is received from a user in a first community, the request indicating a desired text-based messaging session with a user in a second community. The user in the second community is notified of a request, and it is determined if the user has accepted the request to establish a text-based messaging session. If so, the text-based messaging session is established between users in the first and second communities. If the user is not available, predetermined information stored in a server may be accessed to determine a plurality of devices that may be employed for communicating with the user. A message is sent to at least a selected one of the plurality of devices.