Honeywell, Google Settle Lawsuit Over Nest Labs Thermostat

By Joshua Jamerson 

Honeywell International Inc. has settled its patent dispute regarding Google subsidiary Nest Labs, whose thermostats Honeywell claimed infringed on several of its patents.

In a joint statement Thursday evening, Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Honeywell said they had reached a "patent cross-license" agreement that "fully resolves" the long-standing dispute between Nest Labs and Honeywell. Other details of the settlement were undisclosed.

Shares of Honeywell were down 0.3% to $113.25 in morning trading in New York as Alphabet's stock rose 0.4% to $717.46.

Honeywell sued Nest Labs in 2012, saying the company's thermostat infringed on seven of Honeywell's patents related to thermostat technologies.

In 2014, Google paid $3.2 billion to buy startup Nest Labs as part of a technology movement known as the Internet of Things, which is adding sensors, computing and communications technology to make everyday objects more useful.

The company's first product, introduced in late 2011, was a hockey-puck-shaped thermostat that programs itself, based on how a user changes the temperature. Using sensors, it also can detect when there is no one in the home to lower energy use.

In the Honeywell lawsuit, which was filed in a U.S. District Court in Minnesota, Honeywell claimed its patents are related to simplified methods for operating and programming a thermostat, including controlling a thermostat with information stored in a remote location. The patents also are related to user interfaces that facilitate programming and energy saving, according to Honeywell.

The lawsuit sought to stop Nest Labs and retailer Best Buy Co., which sold the Nest Labs thermostat, from using Honeywell's patented technology and to recover damages.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2016 11:46 ET (15:46 GMT)

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