System integrating an on-line service community with a foreign service
August 18, 2018. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesRepresentation of collaborative multi-user activities relative to shared structured data objects in a networked workstation environment Method and apparatus for linking an SNA host to a remote SNA host over a packet switched communications network Cooperative processing interface and communication broker for heterogeneous computing environments Multimedia packet communication system Method and apparatus for facilitating communication in a multilayer communication architecture via a dynamic communication channel Control architecture for ATM networks Object-oriented remote procedure call networking system Ally mechanism for interconnecting non-distributed computing environment (DCE) and DCE systems to operate in a network system Object-oriented networking system with dynamically configurable communication links Computer program product and program storage device for linking and presenting movies with their underlying source information InventorsAssigneeApplicationNo. 135694 filed on 08/18/1998US Classes:709/203, Client/server709/218, Using interconnected networks709/219Accessing a remote serverExaminersPrimary: Bayerl, Raymond J.Attorney, Agent or FirmInternational ClassesG06F 003/00G06F 015/163 AbstractA system and method for integrating an on-line service community with a foreign service such as the Internet World Wide Web. To take advantage of the present invention, on-line service subscribers access a membership module to complete a membership process in which they join communities each of which represents a specific area of interest. The present invention operates as an extension to a user's preferred Web browser and is manifested as a toolbar comprised of control buttons and a viewer on a computer user's screen. By interacting with the control buttons of the toolbar and the menus of the viewer, on-line service content is delivered to the user in response to the URLs specified by the user as he or she browses the Web. In addition, control buttons on the toolbar present opportunities for interacting with other community members. Although the user may change URLs and Web sites frequently, the present invention maintains a context--via a persistent connection between a Community Server at the on-line service and a Community Client on the user's computer--for the user's interactions so that on-line service content may be presented and interactions with other community members facilitated. The benefit of the present invention for end-users is a transformation of the Web to a community.Other References
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