Wondered if someone's already come up with an idea? Search it out with Patents.com, a search engine and marketplace for intellectual property. Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple.

ITC is designed to serve as a centralized marketplace for filed provisional patent applications, enabling companies to identify and evaluate early-stage intellectual property opportunities in a ...

Startups often have a great idea but there is plenty they should know before beginning the US patent process, says Reed Risenmay of Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch. I love it when people ask me what I ...

If you want to make money from your ideas, you have to be pragmatic. First, you need to realize that the odds are against you — and thus, you will need to fight to be paid for your creativity. Is this ...