Google Loses Patent Trial in Texas Over Nest Thermostats (1)

(Updates with Google comment in sixth bullet.)

• Alphabet’s Google was told to pay $20 million after losing a trial in which a California firm claimed it copied a patented invention for a way to make home thermostats more energy efficient.
• Google infringed an EcoFactor patent for a way to reduce peak demand, but not a second patent owned by the firm, a federal jury in Waco, Texas found
• Closely held EcoFactor, which makes software used by utilities, accused Google of infringing two patents and was demanding $5.16 for every Nest unit sold between January 2020 and January 2022, for a ...