First of all these suits are civil suits not criminal cases. Second of all, these are very technical in nature and are not as easy to prove as one might think. Remember there is two sides to every story and then there is the jury. Many companies settle suits for fees that they feel that are less then the cost of fighting them. Ask any insurance company. A few years ago, it was posted on this board and PTSC an article that was published that the average cost of going to trial was approx 5 million dollars on a patent case. That was several years ago. Imagine the cost now. So yes some companies settle for nuisance fees.

IMO, something happen during the discovery process that allowed Samsung off the hook so to speak. The problem is that the records were sealed so no one knows for sure. But I do remember thanks to SS and the Pacers that Samsung challenged the legality of some of the claims. However there was no formal outcome to those challenges as I recall right now.