The Wall Street Journal reports that this week "Eureka Ranch Technology Ltd. of Cincinnati plans to unveil the USA National Innovation Marketplace -- an online registry where researchers and inventors can post ideas they've developed. Businesses can then browse through those ideas by category, much like searching through résumés at a job-hunting site. If the companies see something they like, they can contact the inventor to buy the idea or collaborate on it." 

The Proposal: A new online marketplace will let small businesses find researchers with ideas to sell -- and pitch their own work to big companies.

The Sales Pitch: Big businesses get outside help and small ones get a better shot at landing a big partner.

 The Risks: Trading ideas online raises questions about intellectual piracy and other concerns.

Companies of any size can use the registry. But small companies will be able to view new innovations first. They also can list ideas or products that they've developed and want to pitch to big businesses. The goal, says Eureka founder Doug Hall, is to have small businesses incubate ideas from researchers and then sell them to large companies. The time is right for the idea, he says, since big businesses are coming under greater pressure to innovate quickly -- but often lack the internal resources to do the job. "Small businesses are best at taking an idea and taking it to first sale," he says.