On an unrelated note, scientists often don't do well in debate type situations like a courtroom because scientists are often more concerned about truth then winning an argument. Thus, they'll often concede a small point from the opposing argument that is trumped up as a major victory by the opposition. The point may have little impact toward the truth of the matter but is perceived as important by an ignorant audience because the opposition is touting it as such.
I wonder whether the writer was dramatizing things a bit. I would have expected TBL to have been better prepared by the defendants' lawyers.
In 2005, if I knew that touchscreens would get small enough to work on iPhones, could I spend $4k for 10 patents just to cover all kinds of things you can do with touchscreens on mobile phones? I would have a component there labeled "touchscreen", even though such a thing didn't exist yet. Then, when they finally got small enough and phones got produced, I could use this patent to charge apple and other companies any amount I wanted for the license, through the doctrine of equivalents
Long live the open web; it belongs to all of us.