Google has successfully petitioned a U.S. appeals court to conduct a rare full-court review of a significant $20 million loss to EcoFactor, an energy-management company, in a patent infringement lawsuit related to its Nest smart thermostats.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit announced its decision to reassess a previous ruling made by a three-judge panel that upheld the jury’s verdict against Google. The court will specifically reexamine Google’s contention that testimony from EcoFactor’s damages expert should not have been admissible during the trial.
EcoFactor, which is based in Palo Alto, California, provides smart home energy efficiency services. The company initiated the lawsuit against Google in 2020 in Waco, Texas, claiming that Nest thermostats infringed on its patented technology designed to automatically reduce energy consumption during peak demand periods.
In 2022, a jury sided with EcoFactor, determining that Google had indeed infringed on one of its patents and awarding the company over $20 million in damages. This verdict was upheld by the Federal Circuit in June through a narrow 2-1 decision, which rejected Google’s claims that the damages proposed by EcoFactor’s expert were arbitrary and lacking a basis in reality.
Following the panel’s ruling, Google requested a rehearing in July, asserting that the damages analysis presented by EcoFactor’s expert was disconnected from market realities and failed to reflect the patent’s actual incremental improvements.
EcoFactor’s representatives did not respond immediately to requests for comment regarding the court’s recent decision. Meanwhile, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda expressed the company’s gratitude for the court’s willingness to revisit this significant matter, stating, “We look forward to setting the record straight.”
As the case proceeds, the outcome could have implications for the tech giant and its practices related to intellectual property and innovation within the competitive smart home market.
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