Long discussions about long names

And here, ladies and gentlemen, we see an example of the species homo engineerius, displaying one of his typical traits by defining a problem, specifying a solution, and thereby declaring that the problem no longer exists.

The parasitical species homo lawyerus enjoys hunting alongside homo engineerius, because it is they who benefit from the gap in perception between problem+solution and solved-problem.

In other words, yes, you're absolutely right. The VFAT patents are almost certainly not valid, should not have been granted in the first place, and should be 'trivial' to defeat - 'trivial' in an engineering sense. In a legal sense, they are currently valid, and can therefore be used to generate millions of dollars in legal fees, intimidate smaller competitors, their engineers, customers, and investors, and generally cause expensive trouble.