When people first started discussing which codecs to use on the web a decade ago, the argument made for the MPEG-LA stuff was that a) we're better, b) we're reasonably priced, c) we're already everywhere in hardware, and d) you don't have to worry about the patents because we've got you covered. Ultimately, they won on that basis. However, when HEVC rolled around, that argument was destroyed by the multiple patent pools, and the consumer groups for the patents were pissed off enough to make competitive alternatives.

I suspect that he believes that the perpetual funding stream of ever-better patents is needed to fund the research for ever-better codecs (which, as you say, is disputable but not unreasonable). I also suspect that he would argue that some of the problems of the protection racket amounts to a necessary evil (a protection racket does give you a viable means to combat submarine patents). However, the AV1/HEVC situation undermines these arguments, and this is someone who realizes the gravy train is running out of rails and is desperate to keep it from derailing instead of bailing while he still can.