That's what people that make a living with the patents system will do.. they will convice you how patents are important, and make you fear to not have any patents..
I did'nt see any conceptual explanation for why he is filling for patents.. only that his moved by fear and bad advices from actors that have something to gain for making people like him, entering into this game
Also let my say that this is a bad strategy for a underdog.. because the base crowd for a underdog is the "green" folks.. hipsters, geeks, etc..
This crowd is very sensitive to this sort of things these days.. much more well-educated than the previous generations.. and they are the opinion leaders that can give a sustainable growth to a underdog..
Of course, there are curious people that will download it, and say "cool!!", but then, another app-dujour will beg for attention, and they will just move away..
The evangelizer type is very important, and they probably will move away once they are aware of the patent game.. unless of course instead of a cosmetic innovation you did a really important innovation.. something that everybody needs.. than people can just be arrogant and do whatever they want.. but for underdogs this is a risky game to play