c|net news has the story: a new peer-review web site for patents has launched. It’s called WikiPatents.

A quotation from the story:

But even the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office acknowledged recently that such judgments are no small feat. In a draft five-year strategic plan released last week, officials solidified their intention to develop a “peer review mechanism” that would enlist volunteers from the public to weigh in on applications and ease the burden on its own staff.

Responding to that call for collaboration, a patent attorney and an accountant based in Salt Lake City on Monday launched WikiPatents.com. Sporting a star-based rating system reminiscent of those used for movie criticism, it’s designed in part to help patent examiners, attorneys, litigants, would-be investors, inventors and other interested outsiders decide whether already-issued patents deserve such a designation.

RTWT.