Asetek produces the majority of closed-loop liquid coolers including the Corsair H110, Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate and many more! Arguably, they created the concept for a sealed unit and all-in-one block, tubing and radiator design. As a result, Asetek has sued or threatened legal action against any other company utilizing a closed-loop configuration without their consent. For example, a judge told Cooler Master to pay 14.5% in royalties to Asetek as their Seidon, Nepton, and Glacer products infringed the company’s patent.
Theoretically, this means that the Fury X could be removed from sale as the pump is made by Cooler Master and utilizes a Swiftech rebrand pulled from US markets. Some of you might remember the H220 and H320 from Swiftech, which were absolutely stunning coolers, but the company decided to remove them from sale to avoid any expensive lawsuits. Swiftech eventually manufactured the the H220-X and H240-X but these are still very hard to get hold of in certain regions.
In an interview with GamersNexus, Asetek revealed their current legal proceedings and confirmed they had made Cease & Desist orders to AMD:
“Asetek’s attorneys have recently sent cease and desist letters to Gigabyte, demanding that it cease selling Giga-Byte’s GEFORCE GTX 980 Water Force (sold under at least model number GV-N980WAOC-4GD) because it contains the Seidon 120M found by the court to infringe Asetek’s patents.”
“Asetek’s attorneys have also written a cease and desist letter to AMD, demanding that it stop selling its Radeon R9 Fury X product, because it infringes Asetek’s patents. Our attorneys have had some difficulty obtaining a Gigabyte GV-N98TXTREME W-6GD, but we expect to receive and analyze one very soon for infringement.”
Additionally, they went onto discuss the Cooler Master lawsuit, and illegal activity in question:
“There is no licensing agreement in place with Cooler Master, nor do we plan to offer any in the foreseeable future. Asetek sued Cooler Master and CMI USA, Inc. (Cooler Master’s US affiliate) for infringement of Asetek’s US Patent Nos. 8,240,362 and 8,245,764, and the jury found that the Cooler Master products at issue infringe Asetek’s patents and awarded damages to Asetek. The judge also entered an injunction prohibiting Cooler Master and CMI USA from importing or selling the accused products in the US, and the judge awarded enhanced damages because of continued sales after the jury’s verdict. The injunction states ‘[a]s used herein, Infringing Products shall mean the following Cooler Master products: Seidon 120M, Seidon 120XL, Seidon 240M, Seidon 120V, Seidon 120V Plus, Nepton 140XL, [Nepton 280L], Glacer 240L, and products not more than colorably different from them.’”
The legal outcomes so far have set a pretty strong precedent illustrating Asetek’s valid patents for closed-loop liquid coolers. It’s not an idea situation for other companies trying to enter the market, but the only option is to discuss the matter with Asetek to pay royalties. Nevertheless, it will be a disaster if the Fury X is removed from sale until an Asetek pump replaces Cooler Master’s illegal design.
Do you think Asetek is behaving fairly?
Is a closed loop a unique idea?
The heating combi boiler uses a closed loop with an expansion vessel, so the idea of a closed loop is not exceptional.
Motor cars have had closed loop cooling systems for decades so they are not that new an idea.
Title and article talks only about AMD and Fury X. But in Asetek’s PR are also mentioned Gigabyte and their Nvidia based Waterforce products. Why?
The quote said why. The gigabyte cards are using the Cooler Master Seidon 120, which is one of the ones infringing on the asetek patents.
The question is way there was no mention of Gigabyte and Waterforce in the title and the article, not why Gigabyte is mentioned in Asetek’s PR.
Aren’t there anti-competition laws about forcing other products and companies out of the market like this?
I believe that CoolIT actually beat them to market with a closed loop cooler back in ’03 or so but as CoolIT was mainly aiming at OEM markets they never thought to patent their product. CoolIT made an AIO with a pump in the block long before the 2012 Asetek patent came to be. It really makes me wonder how it’s possible to patent prior work so easily. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I will NEVER buy an Asetek built cooler. I refuse to to support d’bags.
CoolIT filed a patent in 2001 for a closed loop cooler, but importantly it was NOT of the “pump on block” type, but rather the pump was positioned elsewhere in the closed loop. Full details of the patent are here:
http://www.google.de/patents/US6725682
Subsequently, in 2003, Asetek filed a patent for exactly the kind of CLC water cooler we all know today, the “pump on block” style, and their patent can be found here:
https://www.google.de/patents/US7971632?dq=7971632&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjotfKs8sbJAhWHqg4KHfBmA_UQ6AEIHzAA
They introduced a pump on the block cooler back in ’03. I remember seeing it and discussing the possibility of the vibration from the pump having a negative impact on the longevity of the CPU.
Someone needs to teach Asetek a lesson. I’m really curious to see how AMD will react.