Here's a natural idea for an e-business: an "experts online" Web site. With a team of specialists willing to answer queries over the Web and a garden-variety search engine to pair these authorities with advice seekers, you could have an Internet business up and running in no time, fielding questions on everything from accounting to xerography. To make the site really slick, you could let users select the credentials they want in their experts and the fee they are willing to pay.

But before you tap your savings there is something you should know: This business has been patented.