I think it is also a mistake to use this to take a swipe at the Americans.
Patent law is broadly similar around the world. Companies (and not just US companies) are more agressive in pursuing patent assertions in the US, but that is partly because the potential royalties or damages are higher in the US, as it's the world's richest single market (Europe is still somewhat fragmented for patent assertion).
It is true that US patent law has some absurdities such as "continuing patent applications", which can allow someone to add things to a patent that they (or even someone else) invented after the original patent was filed (as in this case). The US Patent Office tried to change the rules to limit this process, but it was GlaxoSmithKline - a British Company - that took the USPTO to court, and got an injunction stopping them preventing GSK and others extending their patents almost indefinitely.