Patent ID: 7577700

Claim:
A method of providing a portable information agent comprising: presenting, using data processing hardware, a graphical representation of an original portable information agent as part of a first composition accessed from a data memory by an initial application, said original portable information agent comprising a software object, having state, and having one or more external connections, said first composition providing a first execution context for said original portable information agent; allowing replication of said portable information agent to a location remote from said initial application; and thereafter moving said replicated portable information agent to said remote location such that said replicated portable information agent becomes part of a second composition, said second composition providing a second execution context for said replicated portable information agent in which said state of said replicated portable information agent is preserved, a persistent link exists between the original portable information agent and the replicated portable information agent, and wherein said initial application comprises a web browser and said first composition is part of a web page.