I think they've used their patents to go on the offensive at least once (post Motorola acquisition), and indirectly by transferring patents to HTC. So, that kind of makes me puzzled by the whole 'they find them abhorrent' aspect. If they did, they wouldn't be using any of their patents like that.
Google's use of patents with motorola was defensive, going after those who are suing android. Google never used patents offensively in the whole company history.
