Asetek is a cooling solution manufacturer whose products we can find in virtually all AIO liquid cooling kits or “all in one.”
The reason is none other than a patent that the company registered 20 years ago (PCT/DK2005/000310 or US8240362) and that allowed them to demand any manufacturer to set a system of a system of Liquid cooling with pump integrated in the block itself. This patent expires now and will leave any company free to create its own designs without relying on Asetek.
Some manufacturers did have RL AIO systems without Asetek components due to variations in the design that moved the water pump to the radiator or other areas, such as the EK-WB or Alphacool models, but anyone who wanted to integrate the pump into the block itself had to “go through box”. Companies like Coolit arrived at an agreement after several legal disputes, but other manufacturers were not successful before Asetek’s demands.
That is one of the reasons why many AIO liquid cooling systems have very similar designs, since they all use bombs and blocks of Asetek itself or derived designs.
When expiring the RL block patent with integrated pump, Asetek will run out of monopoly and possibly see new models reach the market.
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Antonio Delgado
Training computer engineer, editor and hardware analyst at Geeknetic since 2011. I love to gut everything that goes through my hands, especially the most novel hardware that we receive here to make reviews. In my free time to 3D printers, drones and other cachivaches. For anything here you have me.
