I don't know how it would be handled but something has to be done about such blatant abuse of the legal system. If any company files suit but offers to settle for lower than the cost of defending and states it that way in the offer, then I fail to see how that is not extortion. It would seem that you should be able to go before a judge and show the settlement offer to have it ruled so. To me, with this case the defendant's legal fees shouldn't have been as high since the judge should have tossed it almost immediately.

This type of thing is going on across the country and not just in patent infringement cases. You have people all over the place clogging up the courts with suits that are essentially extortion using the law in unintended ways. This has got to stop before we've all lost total confidence in our legal system.

Of course, it's almost a joke now as it is...