Patent ID: 8402141

Claim:
A method for maintaining user data across a user session expiration, comprising: authenticating a user to establish a current user session between said user and an application; receiving, at a client computer system, a user session expiration time cookie from a server computer system, said user session expiration time cookie including a user session expiration time, wherein said user session expiration time is a time at which said current user session will expire and the user will need to re-authenticate to establish another valid session with said application; comparing, by a Web browser executing at said client computer system, prior to said Web browser submitting a user request for an action on said server computer system, a current time maintained at said client computer system with said user session expiration time; in response to said comparing of said current time and said user session expiration time indicating that said current user session has expired, saving, by said Web browser executing at said client system, previously entered user data on said client computer system, and presenting a re-authentication form in a separate graphical user interface login window; obtaining authentication information through said separate graphical user interface login window; and in the event that said authentication information is authenticated by said application software on said server computer system, submitting said user request using said stored, previously entered user data.