The above patent filed by Apple was recently spotted by AppleInsider which gives us a glimpse at a new feature in the works that could possibly find its way into a future iPhone OS update.

The patent deals with both in-call messaging and file transfer which will elimnate the need to hang up before you do so. Below is an excerpt from the filing:

While a user of a mobile device is using telephony services, the user may want to send a message or a file to another part. To send this information, the user may have to disconnect the call, and then perform a lookup of the caller’s contact information prior to being able to send the message or file. This multi-step process can be tedious for the user.

Now we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from Apple.