If I understand trademark law correctly, a company must defend its trademarks or risk losing them. It wasn't about "a quick buck," it was about fulfilling the responsibilities of owning a trademark.

It's hardly fair to fault TigerDirect for doing what the law requires of them.

In this particular case, a judge had to make a judgement call about whether Apple's new "Tiger" OS trademark was an infringement on TigerDirect's trademark. It could have gone either way. That's why a judge was needed.