Are patents effective brand assets anymore?

In the HBO series Silicon Valley, plucky startup Pied Piper is sued by Google-like giant Hooli for IP theft.
The fictional drama within the comedy is not unlike many tech industry lawsuits in real life, including a 2014 case from the SEO industry that dragged on for more than three years and is still in limbo. This may not be an industry associated with intrigue at first blush, but the BrightEdge Technologies v. Searchmetrics et. al case includes allegations of stolen trade secrets, patent