Hidden treasures at Wall Street?

Are there still some hidden treasures under Wall Street buildings? I guess a lot of people would hope that this was the case considering the current meltdown of the economy there. A lot of the current crisis is related to very innovative ways to (try to) make money.

While in some instances it is very beneficial to keep a financial innovation secret, I could not resist to browse the patent databases to hunt for the recipes of the fallen stars of Wall Street.

-Lehman Brothers has 64 patent applications and 12 patents
Some have some quite interesting titles:

US2008/0021819 is for a "Method and system for an asset-backed commercial paper conduit". This sounds familiar!

US2007/0061236 is for a "Combination of financial instruments and method for implementing investment strategy".

-Bank of America has 45 patent applications and 26 patents
Example:

US2008/0195514 is for an "Automated review and hold placement"

-Goldman Sachs has 14 patent applications and 48 patents
Example:

US2007/0203793 is for a "System and method for providing a fuel purchase incentive with the sale of a vehicle".

-Merrill Lynch has 10 patent applications and 39 patents
Example:

US2003/0225656 is for "Financial instruments and methods"US6269346 is for "Stock option control and exercise system".

-Freddie Mac has 1 patent applications and 7 patents
Example:

US2006/0074794 is for a "Method, system, and computer program product for structuring and allocating payments on a loan with secured repayments".


US6067533 is for a "Method and apparatus for determining an optimal investment plan for distressed residential real estate loans".

-AIG has 0 patent applications and 0 patents

-Fanny Mae has 0 patent applications and 0 patents

Remarks: Some of the patent applications give a good indication of what has fueled the crisis. I guess this is food for thoughts.