Amazon Patents Pawned

[theodp]

Jeff Bezos once wrote that he 'didn't believe it would be right' [1]
for Amazon to give up its patents. While Bezos declined to elaborate,
a new Patent Assignment Database may help explain his stance. Turns
out Amazon conveyed key patents to Deutsche Bank [2] on the same day
it inked a $75 million Credit Agreement [3] with the bank's NY and
Cayman Island branches. The agreement notes Amazon's failure to
preserve its patents could be expected to have a 'Material Adverse
Effect' on the agreement.

[1] http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,34887,00.html
[2] http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&reel=008854&frame=0712
[3] http://contracts.onecle.com/amazon/deutsche.credit.1997.12.23.shtml