Patent Cross-Licensing with IBM -- is this really a good deal?

IBM Venture Capital Group just announced a cross-licensing program for  VCs and startups.

Start-ups with annual revenues under $10 million will receive a standard, three-year cross-licensing contract for $25,000, said Michelle McIntyre, a spokeswoman for IBM Venture Capital Group.

Companies with more than $10 million in annual revenues that are in the process of bringing their products to market receive a custom, five-year cross-licensing contract and pay 1 percent in royalties. There is no revenue cap on a company's eligibility, McIntyre said.

My initial reaction was that IBM has a huge patent portfolio and this is a real bargain, plus good PR. Then I had second thoughts: How many startups would cross-license their patents? Aren’t these their crown jewels?

Rather than a program to remove barriers to startups, it could be seen as a way for IBM to:

1)       collect a fee and royalty from potential patent infringers, saving IBM the cost of litigation. An attorney told me that "It costs $3M a year to sue someone for patent infringement if you’re a company like IBM.  If a start-up is only making $10M a year, there’s no money to collect, so no point in suing."
2)       Strengthen even further its own patent portfolio.

Obviously IBM’s patent library is extremely valuable, but is this really a valuable offer or is IBM giving startups the sleeves out of its vest?

I really don't know the answer. I'd welcome opinions.