On Thursday, a Texas jury ruled in favour of EcoFactor, represented by LA law firm Russ August & Kabat, stating that Alphabet’s Google must pay $20 million for violating the energy-management company’s patent rights with its Nest smart thermostat.
The Texas jury found that technology in Google Nest devices infringes EcoFactor’s patented method for automatically limiting energy usage during peak demand.
The startup, which sells smart home energy-efficiency services via utilities, HVAC companies, and broadband providers, sued Google back in 2020 for patent infringement. Google denied EcoFactor’s claims and argued the startup’s patents were invalid.
Following the jury’s verdict, Google must now pay EcoFactor a lump sum of around $20 million.
EcoFactor attorney Reza Mirzaie of Russ August & Kabat said that the company is grateful that the jury protected its “foundation” intellectual property and held Google to account for infringing it.
"The only place in the world that a small-but-innovative company like EcoFactor is on equal footing with Google is inside a courtroom, in front of a jury," Mirzaie commented.
Presently, EcoFactor has lawsuits ongoing against Amazon, Ecobee, Vivint and others over smart-thermostat technology.
