I have three patents, all of which were novel chemical processing innovations, but nothing that unusual for the industry in the big picture. They were all executed in order to protect the intellectual property space against future generic manufacturers to make it harder for them to make the final active ingredient, since they wouldn't be allowed to make it the way we did when the drug went off patent (our process patents typically file several years after the drug, itself is filed), possibly delaying their ability to launch the generic version. I was involved in a patent infringement suit over one of my patents. Never got called to testify, but was subjected to intense questioning by our patent folks in their efforts and was prepared to testify, but a settlement was eventually reached - like you said - leverage.
