Swiftech Withdraws H220 Liquid Coolers from the US Market

[RedundantInk]

Following a patent infringement claim from Asetek, Swiftech has withdrawn its H220 liquid coolers from the US market to "avoid litigation."

Swiftech Withdraws H220 Liquid Coolers from the US Market : Read more

 

[plasmastorm]

"I want our customers to know and expect with absolute confidence that Swiftech’s resourcefulness will once again be brilliantly demonstrated in the immediate future”

Is that a sly way of saying " give us a month, we'll find something else to copy"?

Lol

 

[Lord_Kitty]

It seems like its just an excuse to get out of the market where Corsair leads.

 

[mapesdhs]

Obsessive patent nonsense = no product competition for consumers.

Ian.

 

[C12Friedman]

I find it interesting that Asetek "does not offer licensing" they seem to make a lot of products with other brand's names on them... Antec KÜHLER H2O 920, Zalman CNPS20LQ, Intel BXRTS2011LC... is that not a form of licensing?

 

[ccovemaker]

Baseless law suit stifling process no way!

 

[nvidiamd]

sad muricans, being deprived of choices

 

[fat_panda]

What a mess, eventually CoolIT and Silverstone will also be forced to withdraw from the U.S. market. Asetek will have a monopoly only to be taken to court by our government. People at the Patent office screw this one up.

 

[Chris Droste]

this is legalese for "we're unable to innovate and people aren't buying directly from us so we'll do what "successful" companies do and Lawyer the competition to death.

 

[Thanatos Telos]

Fuck Asetek. This is one of the absolute BEST coolers on the market. In the end, only the consumer gets hurt from these patent trolls.

 

[Michael Wolfe]

Thankfully NCIX is a Canadian store and will ship to the US. We're not deprived of this wonderful AIO LCS.
That aside, I'm a system builder and have been using various Asetek OEM AIO in client builds. That stopped today and I'll be using them all for batting practice. I don't care if I'm out money on this, I refuse to support patent trolling. That's why I don't sell Apple products, or anyone else's that patent trolls like this. Hell, those patents even post-date the H220's development. They created these patents with the intent to litigate competition.

 

[jsznag]

Here's my problem with swiftech's design. Granted, it is a MUCH improved version of the Asetek design, with better tubing, pump, radiator, etc., and it CAN be opened / expanded, but how many within the intended AIO market will actually do this "expansion" that Swiftech markets? Within the USA, to avoid a patent litigation, there must be something substantially different that is easily discernible to the average customer, not necessarily "the desired market". Because of this, I must support the legal right Asetek possesses as the patent holder to license (or not license, or make suit) as they wish to protect their intellectual property. One of the parameters in upholding a patent is hostility, which means public use and protection of that patented good.

As such, I support Asetek's right to profit off of their innovation and their right as a business to protect their intellectual property and patents.

 

[dark_knight33]

As such, I support Asetek's right to profit off of their innovation and their right as a business to protect their intellectual property and patents.

Nobody cares what you support.

The current patent system (this case being a good example) isn't fostering innovation, it's holding it back. Asetek had an idea for a product, which they developed. Another company took the product idea and improved on it, even innovated one might say, and can't sell the damn thing because of a lousy patent claim. It's discernible difference is that the H220 is made better, performs better. Asetek is taking a page out of Apple's book because they can't beat their competitors any other way.

 

[mapesdhs]

... Asetek is taking a page out of Apple's book because they can't beat their competitors any other way.

The whole thing reminds me of the emerging steam engine days, same problem.
Nobody could really get going with new designs until existing patents expired.
The hasn't really changed. Who knows how much further ahead all types of tech
could be if innovation wasn't held back by the lousy patent system.

Ian.

 

[kleetus92]

What I find really comical about this is Asetek is a Chinese company, and those clowns rip off every damn thing made in America... they have the balls to claim patent infringement? Wow...

I'm really pissed because the cooler I had worked great for 2 days, and the pump locked up. Who knows, maybe they did copy the cheap Chinese POS design. Sure performs like it. So my dilemma now is now what do I do?

When it worked, it cooled fantastically.