I'm not denying that the patent system can work for some people. I just don't think empowering a handful of people such as Kearns warrants the enormous cost to our economy wrought by patents.

This cost goes way beyond trolls, by the way. The examples you gave about Apple are also part of my argument that patents have gotta go. Those big companies want to get rid of patent "trolls" but they want to keep patents for themselves to use. It's the moral equivalent of disarming the public and then setting up a military Junta now that there's no means to fight back.