I'm in the IT business, not the garment business, but there is a simple way for him to keep his patent and "enforce" it too if he wanted to.

He could license the patent to "competitors" for one dollar and still retain the rights to the patent. This would allow the "competitors" to use the pleat pattern and yet the license could be revoked if there is some shoddy company out there putting out garbage work.

I understand why some companies keep and enforce patents. I think that the UK guys are doing this for "the right reasons", but their execution is the problem. The biggest problem is that the "patent trolls" who buy and create patents but do not actually create any products are the real problem. They're really just legalized extortionists.