It’s not judges that make the decision, it’s the people at the US patent office. They’ve been approving illegal and conflicting patents for decades, mostly due to a lack of care. Perfect example, Blackboard filed a patent that gave them a monopoly on the online education market, even though what they patented had been invented prior to their formation as a company. It took years of court proceedings to get those patents tossed out and they’re still working on it to this today.
Like everything else having to do with our government, the US patent office needs a house cleaning of personnel.