Nest, Telling It Like It Is  

The Verge’s Nilay Patel has the details about Nest firing back at Honeywell. In case you missed it, Honeywell claimed Nest, the innovative startup founded by former head of Apple’s iPod Tony Fadell, was infringing on patents with its innovative, critically acclaimed learning thermostat.

Not only is Nest firing back by bringing in former Apple chief patent counsel Richard Lutton Jr as VP and general counsel, they are also extremely honest in their official response to Honeywell.

A couple of tidbits from Patel’s story:

“Honeywell is worse than a patent troll,” says Nest CEO Tony Fadell. “They’re trying to strangle us, and we’re not going to allow that to happen.”

“Honeywell has a track record of responding to innovation with lawsuits and overextended claims of intellectual property violations”

But on one point Fadell draws the line: “We have multiple defenses against those seven patents, and we don’t believe we should be changing the product whatsoever.”

I may not be a legal expert, but I do know one thing: I’m rooting for Nest.