Microsoft patents unified status for users with multiple accounts
This filing describes a method for combining the online status of a user who has multiple accounts on the same service. It uses specific rules to merge activity from these separate accounts into a single, unified presence indicator for other users to see.
In the filing’s own words
A trigger to generate a user interface element representing a presence status of a first user is identified, where the first user has a first account and a second account associated with the service. Based upon an identifier of the first user, a composite identity data structure is identified that identifies both the first account and the second account. In response to the data structure identifying the first user associating with both accounts, selection rules are applied to determine a unified presence status based on an activity associated with the first account or the second account. The user interface element is provided to a device of a viewing user, presenting the unified presence status as a single representation across the first account and the second account.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method for providing a user interface in a network-based service, the method comprising: identifying a trigger to generate a user interface element representing a presence status of a first user, wherein the first user has a first account associated with the network-based service and a second account associated with the network-based service; identifying, based upon an identifier of the first user, a composite identity data structure corresponding to the first user, the composite identity data structure identifying both the first account and the second account associated with the first user; in response to the composite identity data structure identifying the first user associating with both the first account and the second account, applying selection rules to determine a unified presence status for the first user based on an activity associated with the first account or an activity associated with the second account; and providing the user interface element to a device of a viewing user, the user interface presenting the unified presence status as a single user interface representation of a presence status of the first user across the first account and the second account.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- COMPOSITE IDENTITY REPRESENTATION FOR PROVIDING USER INTERFACES OF NETWORK-BASED SERVICES
- Publication number
- US20260312959A1
- Application number
- 19711706
- Filed
- Jun 17, 2026
- Published
- Oct 8, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04L 63/102 Electricity & electronicsMore from Microsoft in AI & software
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.