Often, that is the case, though there is a lot of scrutiny on the patent trolls these days. We're also seeing great shifts in transparency on the part of the people held up by these IP bandits. Witness The Oatmeal vs. FunnyJunk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oatmeal_and_FunnyJunk_legal...
"There are strategies I think would be really neat and effective that I literally can't execute. I can't make good law because I don't have any appellate cases left. They [the trolls] are dismissing cases against us before any dispositive motions." -Lee Cheng, Newegg's chief legal officer
Some companies are crusading not just to defend their IP position, but to actively attempt to change the law so that these things can't happen again. Newegg is a prime example: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/newegg-nukes-corp...
"There are strategies I think would be really neat and effective that I literally can't execute. I can't make good law because I don't have any appellate cases left. They [the trolls] are dismissing cases against us before any dispositive motions." -Lee Cheng, Newegg's chief legal officer