Thermostat Startup Nest Comes Out Swinging

Nest Labs' sleek programmable thermostat is at the heart of a patent battle that pits the Silicon Valley startup against old-line manufacturer Honeywell.

Image: Nest Labs

Nest Labs, the venture-backed thermostat startup founded by Apple veterans, isn’t going to sit still and let Fortune 100 manufacturer Honeywell crush it.

The Palo Alto, California, company widely touted for making a user-friendly, though costly, programmable thermostat, has issued a statement in response to a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Honeywell, with the startup saying it has the means to fight that suit.

The company issued a statement Wednesday afternoon, which reads:

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 was launched by iPod designer Tony Fadell and former iPhone software manager Matt Rogers and has received funding from such Silicon Valley stalwarts as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Lightspeed Ventures.

The company’s product was touted in the tech press as cleverly designed and an intelligent alternative to the older generation of thermostats that didn’t do things such as learn the optimum temperature for their owners or connect to smartphones.

Trouble is, Honeywell claimed earlier this week in a lawsuit that it had already come up with some of the technologies Nest used in its thermostat. Honeywell has issued patent claims against Nest Labs and Best Buy, which sells the Nest thermostat.