diff --git a/web/gui/src/main/webapp/app/fw/util/prefs.js b/web/gui/src/main/webapp/app/fw/util/prefs.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f940ca7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/gui/src/main/webapp/app/fw/util/prefs.js
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/*
+ ONOS GUI -- Util -- User Preference Service
+ */
+(function () {
+    'use strict';
+
+    // injected refs
+    var $log, $cookies;
+
+    // internal state
+    var cache = {};
+
+    // NOTE: in Angular 1.3.5, $cookies is just a simple object, and
+    //       cookie values are just strings. From the 1.3.5 docs:
+    //
+    //       "Only a simple Object is exposed and by adding or removing
+    //        properties to/from this object, new cookies are created/deleted
+    //        at the end of current $eval. The object's properties can only
+    //        be strings."
+    //
+    //       We may want to upgrade the version of Angular sometime soon
+    //        since later version support objects as cookie values.
+
+    // NOTE: prefs represented as simple name/value(number) pairs
+    //       => a temporary restriction while we are encoding into cookies
+    /*
+        {
+          foo: 1,
+          bar: 0,
+          goo: 2
+        }
+
+        stored as "foo:1,bar:0,goo:2"
+     */
+
+    // reads cookie with given name and returns an object rep of its value
+    // or null if no such cookie is set
+    function getPrefs(name) {
+        var cook = $cookies[name],
+            bits,
+            obj = {};
+
+        if (cook) {
+            bits = cook.split(',');
+            bits.forEach(function (value) {
+                var x = value.split(':');
+                obj[x[0]] = Number(x[1]);
+            });
+
+            // update the cache
+            cache[name] = obj;
+            return obj;
+        }
+        // perhaps we have a cached copy..
+        return cache[name];
+    }
+
+    function setPrefs(name, obj) {
+        var bits = [],
+            str;
+
+        angular.forEach(obj, function (value, key) {
+            bits.push(key + ':' + value);
+        });
+        str = bits.join(',');
+
+        // keep a cached copy of the object
+        cache[name] = obj;
+
+        // The angular way of doing this...
+        // $cookies[name] = str;
+        //  ...but it appears that this gets delayed, and doesn't 'stick' ??
+
+        // FORCE cookie to be set by writing directly to document.cookie...
+        document.cookie = name + '=' + encodeURIComponent(str);
+        $log.debug('<<>> Wrote cookie <'+name+'>:', str);
+    }
+
+    angular.module('onosUtil')
+    .factory('PrefsService', ['$log', '$cookies',
+        function (_$log_, _$cookies_) {
+            $log = _$log_;
+            $cookies = _$cookies_;
+
+            return {
+                getPrefs: getPrefs,
+                setPrefs: setPrefs
+            };
+        }]);
+
+}());