{
  "patent_number": "US 8701014",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Apps Automatically Link Multiple User Accounts",
  "original_title": "Account linking",
  "summary": "A method for logging into multiple separate user accounts with a single set of credentials and managing them through one unified interface.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes a system where a user provides login information for one primary account, and the system automatically authenticates a second, different account without requiring a second password. Once both are active, the system presents a single graphical user interface that displays buddy lists or contact lists from both accounts simultaneously. The user can then select which account to send a message from, and the recipient sees the message as originating from that specific account. For example, a user could sign into a work account and have their personal account automatically connect, allowing them to toggle between messaging coworkers and friends within the same window.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover systems that require separate passwords for each account.",
    "Does not cover account linking that occurs without a shared graphical user interface.",
    "Does not cover authentication methods that rely on third-party tokens or OAuth protocols not described in the claims.",
    "Does not cover single sign-on (SSO) systems that do not specifically manage multiple buddy lists or contact lists within a single interface."
  ],
  "filed": "2003-11-18",
  "granted": "2014-04-15",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Facebook Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/facebook-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Pei-Lin Wu",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/pei-lin-wu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chris Chih-Shen Chung",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/chris-chih-shen-chung"
    },
    {
      "name": "Barbara McNally",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/barbara-mcnally"
    },
    {
      "name": "Russell William Richards",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/russell-william-richards"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael Robert Enloe",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/michael-robert-enloe"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gregory Cypes",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/gregory-cypes"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alan Keister",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/alan-keister"
    },
    {
      "name": "Heather Allison Schlegel",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/heather-allison-schlegel"
    },
    {
      "name": "James A. Odell",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/james-a-odell"
    },
    {
      "name": "David McCormick",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/david-mccormick"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrew L. Wick",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/andrew-l-wick"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alexis Inch",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/alexis-inch"
    },
    {
      "name": "Barry Appelman",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/barry-appelman"
    },
    {
      "name": "David Cox",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/david-cox"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xiaopeng Zhang",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/xiaopeng-zhang"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 26,
  "tags": [
    "software",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "telecommunications"
  ],
  "abstract": "Linking multiple identities from a single service includes for a user of a single service having multiple identities within the single service, authenticating a primary identity having a first buddy list associated with an account, authenticating a secondary identity having a second buddy list associated with the account, and creating an association between the primary identity and the secondary identity, where the primary identity and the secondary identity simultaneously share a common graphical user interface such that the primary identity interacts with the first buddy list and the secondary identity interacts with the second buddy list using the common graphical user interface.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8701014/office-365-co-authoring",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8701014/office-365-co-authoring/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US8701014",
  "relatedPatents": []
}