Patent Law

WaMu

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

Washington Mutual (WaMu) is a poster child of the mortgage lending irrational exuberance that led to the current economic depression. A run on the bank last September led to its wrenching government-mandated rescue by JP Morgan Chase. WaMu was the biggest bank failure in U.S. history, and was sold in a hastily arranged wamu-bam-thank-you-man auction. WaMu is now suing the FDIC, for selling it off for only $1.9 billion, claiming it had no such right. Meanwhile, JP Morgan has filed its own suit, seeking title to disputed WaMu assets, including its tiny portfolio of eight patents granted and pending, as well as over 300 domestic and international trademarks, and 1,300 Web domain names. The Delaware district court judge handling WaMu's bankruptcy case has given WaMu permission to hire a consulting firm to valuate the bank's IP assets.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on April 17, 2009 (boomark / email).