Google convinces US appeals court to reconsider Nest patent verdict

Sept 25 (Reuters) - Google (GOOGL.O) persuaded a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to undertake a rare full-court review of its $20 million trial loss to energy-management company EcoFactor in a patent lawsuit over Google's Nest smart thermostats.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it would reassess a three-judge panel's split decision affirming the verdict and reconsider Google's arguments that testimony from EcoFactor's damages expert should not have been allowed.

An attorney and spokespeople for EcoFactor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision. Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the company appreciated the court's "willingness to take up this important issue" and "look[s] forward to setting the record straight."

Palo Alto, California-based EcoFactor sells smart home energy-efficiency services. It sued Google for patent infringement in Waco, Texas federal court in 2020, arguing that Nest thermostats use EcoFactor's patented method for automatically reducing energy usage during peak demand.

A jury determined in 2022 that Google infringed one of the patents and awarded EcoFactor just over $20 million in damages. The Federal Circuit upheld the verdict in a 2-1 ruling in June, rejecting Google's argument that the proposed damages rate from EcoFactor's expert was "plucked out of nowhere."

Google asked the full court in July to rehear the case, arguing that EcoFactor's expert damages analysis led to a verdict that was "divorced from market realities and devoid of connection to the patent's incremental improvement to the art."

Google's request drew support in court briefs from other tech giants including Apple (AAPL.O), Tesla (TSLA.O) and Intel (INTC.O).

The case is EcoFactor Inc v. Google LLC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 23-1101.