Intellectual ventures accumulating patents is like the mob getting nukes. The only thing they plan to use them for is extortion, but sometimes if people fail to pay up they might need a little demonstration of what it will cost them to refuse.

Intellectual Ventures Goes to Court – NYTimes.com

this line is from a reader who left a comment on this NYT post. sums it up nicely. 

we need patent reform desperately. the spirit of our patent system is lost. they are no longer out to help the small and the individual. they are a big company weapon and they stifle innovation.