If that is true, why can’t they remove the feature as a standard component and simply make it an add-on Android Market OWS app/plugin?  Maybe only sell the IMAP email component as a standard feature of the Android OS Email Client.  I’ll happily abandon using it if Microsoft wants to play that game.  Most people don’t even use Microsoft Exchange for email.  It’s for business users only.  
Consequences of that are the consumer market potentially gets fractured between business users and non-business users.  That only limits innovation and returns us to an environment we had when RIM blackberry reigned.

That, time and time again, has not been the case. Licensing does not hurt consumers – unless the patents being pursued are something like Syncing to a MS Exchange Server from a mobile device (which, by the way, has been deemed fundamentally different (at least in terms of patents awarded) than syncing to other types of servers from mobile devices).

This is just a shift of perceived benefit away from people making & selling the products (adding value to consumers) to those litigating over the products (adding value to businesses).

Since Microsoft generares significant revenue from Android, it’s in Microsoft’s interest for the Android to remain successful.