We want to add Q&A to our product pages, but don't want to get hit with an infringment. Are their any patents that claim to have invented the electronic Q&A forum for posting questions and answers to a web page?
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1To get a more detailed (and on-topic) picture, try posting a separate thread calling for prior art on one of the patent #s given below.– Ron J.Commented Apr 21, 2013 at 14:02
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Off-topic but hard not to make an exception for this!
A very quick look found this (don't let the titles scare you):
Answer ranking in community question-answering sites
US 8346701
Microsoft, Corp
Providing community for customer questions (only an application)
US 20130013546
IBM
answered Mar 22, 2013 at 0:05
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1To add, experts-exchange.com also had at least one patent on their method of providing a Q&A website: US6064978. This one is much earlier and broader, but note that neither this nor the Microsoft patent is so broad as to cover the general concept of a "Q&A web forum"... The '978 patent relates to "organizing", "regulating" the "number and complexity of questions" and assigning a "quality" to answers, whereas the Microsoft one relates to finding, linking and ranking similar questions and answers. However, note also that these are only two examples of many, many related patents out there. Commented Mar 22, 2013 at 0:36