Sentence:  According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than <WSD>face</WSD> the costs of a legal battle. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To deal with (a difficult situation or person); to accept (facts, reality, etc.) even when undesirable.