If he was never technically arrested then why are you making a fuss over this again?

Maybe he didn't consider contempt of court, the same as traditionally being arrested. Especially since apologizing was all that was needed to get released in that episode.

"Leonard is a tenured professor at a major university"

While I empathize with Leonard keeping the account a secret. Keeping things like that a secret in your marriage isn't necessarily a good idea.

Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence. NOTHING in season 1 contradicts the possibility of him having a storage unit either.

nuance: a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.

Your comment about it being shoddy storytelling because you agree the old Sheldon would've bragged about it, indicates that you assumed the old Sheldon was without shame and kept nothing bottled up.

I'm not, it's called a taping report.

"take a look at how Leonard and Penny are treated now that they’re married. They’re hardly even allowed to be a couple anymore. not even that much love."

From The 2003 Approximation:

Molaro mentioned in interviews that they knew what Penny's wedding vows were going to be for awhile & that they wanted hers to be off the cuff. Also kaley in an interview, mentioned that the writers wanted lennys wedding to be unique, and completely different from what anyone expected.So they likely had a rough idea…

You keep stating this but your reasons for why have next to no nuance.

You assume alot of old Sheldon wasn't him projecting confidence (I.e. being full of shit)

Maybe he paid a stranger to drive him to this place?

You could, doesn't mean I would agree with you. Or that the argument would necessarily be well founded.

No the other ones do, if you've paid attention over the years.

"The AV club has themselves said that Leonard and Penny are the least interesting relationship."

"but there are many brilliant and non-brilliant people who struggle with social norms, social anxiety, OCD, aspergers and for whom even the minutest daily life aspects can be a real challenge. They are not intentionally trying to be jerks."

Just because he would become capable of talking to women doesn't necessarily mean he would be good at relationships/interacting with women.

"The show aside, how could they circumvent the university's ownership of the patent?"