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Doesn't matter much, if they are still able to shut down a competitor like Nest legally, especially seeing as millions of people will continue to buy their products.

I can't do anything about millions of people, but I can do something about my own buying patterns. I can also tell others why I did so and hope they agree with me.

Is there perhaps an argument for financial activism here? While it wouldn't be super significant, let's say you bought 1000 shares of Honeywell and shorted it today. You continued this type of action for software patent litigation in the future. Eventually it might have the intended effect and actually affect their share price, which might cause these huge companies to think twice.

Doesn't hurt to do both considering the low cost of both actions.

They aren't going to try to shut down Nest. They'll just try to extract a couple dollars per thermostat in royalties.