Given the size of corporate lobbies in Washington, D.C., and the assets any one of them -- whether pharmaceutical patents or music copyrights -- would stand to lose, I highly doubt any of Obama's economic recovery efforts will involve weakening the United States' IP regime.

I'm just sayin'...

Several people have commented about Midway's Chapter 11 filing possibly leading to other companies purchasing their IP rights to various franchise, but it's important to keep in mind that there's a big difference between Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Under Chapter 11, reorganization, the organization is given time to restructure its debt, retain its assets, and negotiate deals with creditors. It still has to pay off its debts, but possibly over a longer term or with a lower interest rate. This is a very different beast from Chapter 7, where the firm's assets are sold off (liquidated) to pay off the creditors, after which the firm ceases to exist.

Under some circumstances, a company in Chapter 11 can be forced into Chapter 7, but as it stands now, the proud Midway name will continue on down the road.