Patent infringement lawsuits aren’t just for smartphones. Water-cooler maker Asetek is suing rival firm CoolIT Systems according to this report over at VR-Zone. Turns out Asetek has been granted three US patents related to "integrated loop liquid cooling." In a well-timed press release, the company says it’s going to "evaluate each imitator on a case-by-case basis within the context of the greater liquid cooling market," and possibly "grant licenses or pursue other courses of action to protect and monetize its intellectual property." Looks like Asetek chose the latter with CoolIT.
Asetek Founder and CEO André Sloth Eriksen says some of the patents date back to 2003, which indeed matches references in the three patent documents bearing his name. Two of the patents were granted this month, and the associated diagrams are rather more specific than rounded rectangles.
Although it doesn’t mention the firm by name, Asetek says it’s inked a licensing agreement with "a leading global marketer of integrated liquid cooling products." That company will not only market Asetek’s products, but also build some of its own using the same technology.
Liquid cooling used to be restricted to only those brave enough to do their own plumbing. In recent years, all-in-one systems have made liquid coolers no more difficult to install than standard heatsinks. These closed-loop coolers have become quite popular as a result, especially since some variants are now competitive on price with premium air coolers. It will be interesting to see whether Asetek’s suit has merit—and which of the big names in water cooling has signed on to use its IP.
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