Nest is ready to fight. The Palo Alto company just issued a followup statement regarding Honeywell's recent patent infringement suit (http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/06/honeywell-files-patent-lawsuit-against-smart-thermostat-developer-nest/).
In short they're not going to roll over. They're going to stand tall. The plan is to "vigorously defend itself" from what they call an attempt to stifle "thoughtful competition." Nice. Go get 'em, boys.
From Nest Labs:
We at Nest are proud of creating products that bring true innovation to home efficiency and we are continuing to innovate and bring products to market. The Nest Learning Thermostat is already making a difference, saving customers energy and money. Nest will vigorously defend itself against Honeywell's patent-attack strategy to stifle thoughtful competition and we have the resources, support and conviction to do so.
Nest Labs might have a tough fight ahead. Honeywell alleges that the Nest Learning Thermostat infringes on seven of Honeywell's patents. From my view on the outside it seems that Honeywell might have a case but Nest likely (hopefully) saw this coming and already has a litigation strategy prepped to argue that these patents are invalid. But it's up to the courts now.
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