Actually, they probably do have a significant hand in it. I suspect there have been more than a few patents submitted more because the legal team thought they could manage it than because the engineers thought there was something significant to protect.

But the point I was getting at is that I suspect that in this kind of case the selection of patents to put in the legal case against B&N was down to the lawyers picking from a long list, and the chances of them asking the engineers whether they'd stand up in court were reduced due to the organisational structure.