Instant Messaging Comment Flagging for Always-on-Top Viewing

Instant Messaging Comment Flagging for Always -on-Top Viewing

During a one-on-one or group conversation via Instant Messaging (IM) or an online chat application, a user often makes a statement that requires follow-up action. One user provides a specific set of actionable commands and the other user(s) must follow those steps. In order to accurately follow those steps after the conversation ends, the user(s) needs to retrieve that portion of the conversation. At present, the user must scroll through the entire conversation to locate the information they need. There is no good method to move those steps (or even a comment) from within a conversation to a separate "saved" state, such that the user(s) can then quickly recall them. The proposed invention solves this problem by allowing individuals to flag portions of a conversation to always remain in view.

Disclosed is a system and method to flag or mark portions of an instant messaging (IM) conversation such that the application temporarily displays that section in the user's IM window.

The process for implementing the invention in a preferred embodiment follows:

1. User interacts with an instant messaging client with the proposed invention

2. Another user says something that the first user wishes to mark

3. The first user marks a line, group of lines, or set of lines

A. Options for marking include:

i. double clicking on the line

ii. double clicking on the second users name

iii. right-clicking > option to mark

iv....