The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has awarded Google a patent, which was originally filed back in 2010, that gives users the ability to create and share status updates in the form of comic strips. The process would allow users to share a comic between a number of different social networks, including Facebook.

Google+ could be getting a lot funnier, at least in theory, if the company follows through on the approach described in a new patent. The U.S. Patent and Trademark office today awarded Google a patent on “Self-creation of comic strips in social networks and other communications.” In other words, Google has just patented the ability to create and share status updates in the form of comic strips. All told, it seems fairly straightforward: a user creates a comic about something that’s going on in their life, and then shares it with a social network.