Jobs's biography makes clear that Jobs wanted to burn Android to the ground. Most of the recent Apple lawsuits seem to stem from that. That's very different motivation than...
"We're a weak company. What can we do?"
"Let's use our patents to sue people."
I'm not saying that Apple isn't weak. I think they are, with Jobs gone. However, even if it's as bad as I think, the flailing lawsuits will take a while to materialize. First the stock has to tank. Right now shareholders are salivating over potential dividends.
One of the signs of a tech company's last gasp is "leveraging its patent portfolio", a/k/a, suing everyone in sight.
From what I understand of the Apple/Android instance, Jobs felt personally betrayed by Eric Schmidt, who was apparently privy to advance information about the iPhone when Google began its Android pursuits.
Given the iPhone release in June, 2007, and Google's acquisition of Android in August, 2005, the timing might be indicative. Then again, the first release of the iPhone was in 1993 (the Newton). I still remember encountering my first one of those and wondering why I'd ever want one.... By 2005-6, the time of the mobile+PDA had truly come, IMO. Not that Schmidt couldn't have picked up some tips from Apple. Much as Apple once did from Xerox....