Nest not only takes inspiration from Apple, they take lawyers:

Nest describes Honeywell’s patents as “hopelessly invalid” “retreads already invented by others years before,” and as The Verge reports in their story, Nest CEO Tony Fadell describes Honeywell as “worse than a patent troll”:

Nest’s full answer to Honeywell’s lawsuit reveals the same arguments in greater detail. (It also contains amazing legal zingers like “Nest denies that Honeywell is an innovator in the area of thermostat technology.”) According to the filing, “Honeywell has a track record of responding to innovation with lawsuits and overextended claims of intellectual property violations,” and the patents in question should all be invalidated by prior art — even, in some cases, by previous Honeywell patents Nest claims the company hid from the Patent Office.

Man, I’d never have thought thermostats could get so interesting.

Source: Coyote Tracks