Re "irresponsible."
Most business legal matters are about money. Settling can save the company money. It's just a business decision. Those who take it personally often end up spending more time and money than is needed.
Companies can care about their bottom line while serving their community in a responsible manner. Companies going carbon neutral are doing it to improve their image, etc. but the consequences have net benefits for the society. No one's going to call that irresponsible. Feeding the patent troll market with the money that was donated to fight them off? Irresponsible.
The troll's business model is:
1. Buy patent (after due diligence) 2. Sue lots of easy marks (companies like OP's that will just write a check) 3. Use that money to fund suits against the tougher targets 4. Go for the big payday (a large jury verdict against a major company)
Where am I getting this? We had a talk by a former troll when I was in Google Legal.
So OP is at #2.
Needed for what? To make it go away for you, while the troll gets more money to extort everyone else?