Patent ID: 7707292

Claim:
A method for use in managing an Instant Messaging (IM) session over a network, comprising: receiving information indicating that a computing device is logged into an end-user account; providing a cookie to the computing device, wherein the cookie includes an end-user account identifier associated with the logged in end-user account on the computing device; receiving a request to sign into the IM session on a mobile device from the computing device independent of whether an IM session is active on the computer device, the request being initiated by a client application other than an IM client application on the computing device; and in response to receiving the request: authenticating the request, remotely from the mobile device and the computing device, based at least on the cookie and the end-user account identifier, using the end-user account identifier to locate a mobile device identifier for the mobile device through a mapping between the end-user account identifier and the mobile device identifier, employing the end-user account identifier and the mobile device identifier that is associated with the end-user account identifier to automatically log into the IM session on the mobile device associated with the mobile device identifier, automatically logging out of the IM session on the computing device and sending a message to the mobile device that the IM session is started.