Settlement is generally encouraged in all civil cases.judges tend to actively encouraging settlement because it saves the litigants time and money,and lightens the court case load.
Furthermore ,many patent suits are settled by the parties entering into a licensing /royalty agreement.By entering into such arrangement , a patent holder maintain rights under the patent, does not have to worry about challenges to the validity of the patent and recieve compensation.
For the alleged infringer a settlement provide a mean to avoid costly patent litigation and provide a fixed business cost instead of a potentially enormous damages award.
Most importantly , such an agreement allows the alleged infringer to continue practicing the technology at issue.This benefit in some instances, may make the difference between staying in business or being shut down.