A new web-based company hopes to change the US patent system by allowing companies to post bounties of $10,000 or more in exchange for information that can either support or invalidate an existing patent. BountyQuest's (Boston, MA) vision of “market-based patent reform” permits anyone online to submit published information pertaining to a company's request for prior art—published articles or online documents about a composition of purified primate embryonic stem cells, for example. If the information is an exact match, the bounty hunter bags the prize. Former patent attorney and BountyQuest CEO Charles Cella hopes http://www.bountyquest.com will help companies fight overly broad patents that increase consumer prices, as well as help patent-holder defense. “BountyQuest is targeting industries where patents play a significant role, and one of the main targets is biotechnology,” says Cella. “Patents threaten to impede basic research in areas such as stem cell technology and genomics.” Cella has filed a patent on this “broadcast rewards system” and, naturally, posted a $14,159 bounty on his new site.