The company that I used to work for, had a vast patent portfolio.

They were also getting sued regularly, by patent trolls.

They had really good lawyers, and had a basic policy, to never settle with trolls. It wasn't altruistic. They just didn't want to get bullied. I'm sure that they also went after other companies, and there was probably a lot of wheeling and dealing. That's one of the reasons that corporations like to hoard patents.

They used to require their engineers to file a couple of patents a year. I am on a patent. I got a dollar for it.