Sorry, I don't know any more of the details. It was a casual conversation about patents and spurious lawsuits in general (they'd also been sued in a class-action, which they did fight and "win", in quotes only because apparently the attorneys for the plaintiffs are likely to appeal, meaning it's not over yet), and I've related what I remember from it.
Though I will say this: He absolutely wanted to fight. He completely hated the concept of paying the extortion. But as a representative of a VC-backed company, he couldn't in good faith spend $3M on a lawsuit that could be put to rest for $200k.
Could he pool resources with others affected by the same troll? Busting these patents would benefit all these victims, and coming up with $3M from many sources would be easier than pulling this through alone.
Though I will say this: He absolutely wanted to fight. He completely hated the concept of paying the extortion. But as a representative of a VC-backed company, he couldn't in good faith spend $3M on a lawsuit that could be put to rest for $200k.