Cooler Master found guilty in Asetek patent suit

Liquid cooling specialist Astek has won its lawsuit against rival Cooler Master, with a jury finding that the company had infringed an Asetek-held patent with its Seidon family of all-in-one coolers.

Asetek filed a suit against its rival back in March last year claiming that it had infringed US Patent 8240362 and its revised update Patent 8245764 with the launch of the Seidon family of all-in-one sealed-loop liquid coolers. Now, a California jury has reached a verdict: Cooler Master USA, now known as CMI USA Incorporated, has indeed infringed 8245764 and must pay Asetek damages of $404,941 based on a royalty rate of 14.5 per cent.

'Although it is frustrating to have spent significant time and resources in a courtroom, it is rewarding to be vindicated in this way,' claimed André Sloth Eriksen, founder and chief executive of Asetek, of the jury's findings. 'We appreciate the value of competition, but it must be done on equal terms. We will not accept anyone blatantly copying the patented solutions that we have worked so hard to bring into the market.'

A lawsuit brought by Asetek against rival CoolIT back in 2012 regarding the same patents has yet to complete, as has CoolIT's retaliatory lawsuit accusing Asetek of infringing a fresh patent granted this year. Asetek is also requesting that Cooler Master's infringing products be removed from sale, a request the district judge has yet to rule upon.