Long as I know the truth, I'd sleep at night.
That's a good attitude and way to live. I often wonder how some people sleep at night after taking advantages of others. Trust me, patents aren't meant to protect the little guy anymore, they are more used for bargaining chips between big business. It is like anything else, with enough money and lawyers, you can do whatever you want. On the flip side, it also prevents extortion as well, like the guy/company that went after blackberry claiming patent infringement.
We where the first company to ever hit 4000 patents in a single year last year, and it was our 16 consectutive year leading the US in patents. Needless to say, research is a big part of our company and licensing technologies brings in a fair share of revenue.