I don't think the first comment is particularly controversial, though the speaker was being diplomatic in his use of the term "innovate." It makes more sense if you replace it with "rip off."
The fact of the matter is that a lot of people paint this idealized picture of the morally virtuous techie, where the only people who own patents are big bad patent trolls, and the only people who get sued are innocent innovators who independently arrive at an invention.
That's not the actual story, or at least that's not the whole story. Like in every other field, there is a gaussian distribution of business ethics at various companies. Look at how many companies get nailed for using GPL-ed software without releasing source. You think those same companies don't also copy competitors' designs wholesale? When our company was doing business with an American telecoms supplier, a manager there mentioned that a Chinese telecoms supplier was ripping off their designs wholesale, down to the silk-screening on the PCBs.
There is a difference between "let's innovate on top of this idea" and "oh this idea is good, let's just copy it."
Now, NPE's in their current form are clearly just rent-seeking. However, I think there is a role for NPE's that create value by serving to create a market for patents. Not every innovator wants to get into the business of making products. ARM wants to design microprocessors, they don't want to design and manufacture iPads. Patents facilitate that division of labor, and NPE's can make the whole system more efficient by creating markets for patents.