Patent ID: 9374328
Filing Date: 2016-06-21
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method comprising: broadcasting a personal presence status from a first instant messaging subscriber to a plurality of instant messaging subscribers; sending, to the plurality of instant messaging subscribers, a request for respondent presence statuses; receiving at least one respondent presence status from at least one instant messaging subscriber from the plurality of instant messaging subscribers; creating an association between the first instant messaging subscriber and the at least one instant messaging subscriber from the plurality of instant messaging subscribers from which the at least one respondent presence status is received; storing, in a memory, the association between the first instant messaging subscriber and the at least one of the plurality of instant messaging subscribers from which the at least one respondent presence status is received; and broadcasting, in accordance with the association, a subsequent personal presence status from the first instant messaging subscriber only to the at least one instant messaging subscriber from the plurality of instant messaging subscribers from which the at least one respondent presence status is received, wherein only the at least one instant messaging subscriber from the plurality of instant messaging subscribers from which the at least one respondent presence status is received receives the subsequent personal presence status while other instant messaging subscribers from the plurality of instant messaging subscribers from which the at least one respondent presence status is not received do not receive the subsequent personal presence status.