MINNEAPOLIS — Honeywell recently filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nest Labs Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The lawsuit alleges infringement of seven thermostat technology Honeywell patents.

The patents are related to, among other things, simplified methods for operating and programming a thermostat including the use of natural language, user interfaces that facilitate programming and energy savings, a thermostat’s inner design, an electric circuit used to divert power from the user’s home electrical system to provide power to a thermostat, and controlling a thermostat with information stored in a remote location.

The lawsuit seeks to enjoin Nest Labs and Best Buy Co. Inc., which sells the Nest Labs thermostat, from using Honeywell’s patented technology and to recover damages caused by the infringement. This action follows recent patent litigation filed by Honeywell against Venstar Inc. and ICM Controls for infringing thermostat and combustion controls patents.

“Competition is good and we welcome it, but we will not stand by while competitors, large or small, offer products that infringe on our intellectual property,” said Beth Wozniak, Honeywell Environmental and Combustion Controls president.

“We are focused on upholding the integrity of the hard work and development our company has put into its home comfort and residential control technologies,” said Wozniak. “We have more than 20,000 engineers who work hard every single day to solve issues faced by our global customers — innovation is at the heart of what we do at Honeywell. We will continue to protect our intellectual and financial investments in innovation and pursue legal action against those who infringe on our patented technologies.”

Publication date: 02/20/2012