It includes a computer server system configured to receiving an instant message query or request from the user over the internet. The query or request is interpreted and appropriate action is taken, such as accessing a local or remote data resource and formulating an answer to the user's query.
The answer is formatted as appropriate and returned to the user as an instant message or via another route specified by the user. The patent also covers a system of providing authenticated access to a given web page via instant messaging.
Tim Kay, founder of Active Buddy and listed inventor in the patent claim, said that his company has invented interactive agents and secured the patent to prevent others from using the technology without paying, according to a report by news site Internet.com.
According to the same report, amateur bot developers dispute the validity of the patent, claiming that the instant messaging bot technology existed before “ActiveBuddy was even a company.”