Patent ID: 7753260

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for generating uniformly formatted electronic business cards in a network, the method comprising: determining presentation method data for uniform application to business cards users associated with the network, wherein the presentation method data includes a uniform format for electronic business cards in the network; setting the uniform format for the electronic business cards, wherein electronic business cards generated in the network are confined to the uniform format; receiving an input instruction to send the electronic business card, and in response to receiving the input instruction, generating business card body data by executing steps comprising: obtaining personal information associated with the user from a personal information data store, obtaining the uniform format from a presentation method data store, wherein the personal information data store and the presentation method data store are separated such that electronic business cards of different users can be generated using the same uniform format; determining personal information permitted by the uniform format, and populating the electronic business card with personal information permitted by the uniform format; and populating the electronic business card with signature data that is generated before transmission and after the instruction to send the electronic business card; wherein the signature data uses the business card body data and the personal information such that the signature data is based on latest personal information and the uniform format used in generating the electronic business card.