Apple, Ericsson Sue Each Other Over LTE Patent Royalties → Coincidence or obsession?

Why is it that Apple is involved in so many patent lawsuits? Sometimes they're the plaintiff, sometimes the defendant, but it seems like their presence in lawsuits that relate to patents is far out of proportion to their actual value.

Yes, they build some fine equipment, but so do others, and others do it without suing everyone else.

because most patents are bullshit and have nothing to do with what the original application was.

I have been dragged through a number of patent trials and when you read the actual patent and what they were "thinking of doing" you just know it is total bs. I haven't read the patent application, but I can tell you most of these they don't even have to demonstrate a workable product, its like they just thought up something and write the patent so broad they can just troll later on and sue or royalty. Back in the day to be granted a patent, you actually had to demonstrate a working prototype to the PO to even be considered. At least then if you are building a gizmo for dogs, you would have a hard time suing Boeing for an actuator in a 777.

In high tech companies just buy up patents (like GOOG/MSFT buying up Nortel) to have a nuclear arsenal so they just don't sue each other into oblivion. You can imagine that if you are a new company and don't have a cadre or lawyers or armory of patents why it is so hard to take a business from start up to successful. Most just sell out.

In fact royalty payments in most cases are a modern case of a vig by some company that survives on glory of yesterday

People just pay them because the recourse is a legal challenge in which the jury are regular folks who don't even know what a gigabyte is. The IP lawyers don't even try to explain the patent, they simply paint the "infringer" and the bad corporate guy and they must pay.

Its sad because technology has lapped the justice system by a mile.

This forum always complains about below-the-line-fees. Well almost every electronic product you buy you are paying BTL fees to support patent trolls.

Simple:

Apple sues when they think they can stifle a competitor, and are sued when they exploit patents for technology created by competitors that Apple uses anyway.

TLDR: most of the patents are obvious as elefante says and should not have been granted patents in the first place.

This is because Apple copies everyone else's ideas.
I dont know if they had an original idea since the Apple II.