Swiftech H220 coming back to the market?

[RGE]

That patent would be invalidated if it goes to court based on prior art alone, especially given current attitude towards patent trolling.

forbes has a good review on effects of recent laws passed on march 16, 2013 to combat patent trolling. And the best part of the recent laws is once a patent is invalidated, those making false patent claims can then be targeted for lost profits by those falsely accused of patent infringement.

quote from forbes article here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesl.../a-powerful-new-weapon-against-patent-trolls/

What many companies don’t realize, though, is that half the time a patent gun is leveled at them, it’s loaded with blanks, not real bullets. That’s right: About half of the patents asserted against companies end up invalidated when litigated in court or re-examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during what’s known as an inter partes review. If you include patents whose claims are narrowed as well as those cancelled entirely—and it’s the claims that define the limits of a patent’s value and an infringer’s liability—then a staggering 89% of all patents reviewed by the USPTO are judged either partly or wholly invalid.

The Achilles heel of any patent is what is known as prior art. Prior art means any previous patent, technical paper, or public knowledge or use of an invention that makes it ineligible for a patent. Under the law, a patent may be issued only if an invention is useful, novel (i.e., not previously known or described), and nonobvious—meaning, not an obvious outgrowth of an existing technology. An examination of prior art determines whether an invention is novel and nonobvious.

Thanks to the America Invents Act, after March 16, 2013, a whole new treasure trove of prior art will be able to turn a patent from a legal weapon into literally a worthless piece of paper:

Unpublished patent applications: For the first time, unpublished patent applications, i.e., applications pending in the USPTO system for less than 18 months, can invalidate a later patent if these contain prior art that anticipates the invention.

 

[briansun1]

now is only they guys at swiftech see that.

 

[MisterEd]

I did a little research. Here is a link to a document I created. Let me know what you thing about it.

Was Asetek right to protect their intellectual property?

 

[RnRollie]

Anyone remember when Koolance first introduced their "AIO" the exos?
Not to mention their complete LCS cases...
I'ld like to see Koolance pointing out to Asetek that their AIO looks remarkably like the Exos (or some of their other earlier stuff)... just out of spite.

Of course companies use all the weapons in their arsenal, like when Lotus was bleeding badly and they tried to protect their market share against Microsoft Excel with patenting the "look & feel of a spreadsheet". Lotus rolled over shortly after... going for a legal battle against the young & upcoming Microsoft was "ill advised".

But nowadays, its going too far, it is rightly called patent-trolling... and those trolls SHOULD be spanked.. thoroughly!

 

[briansun1]

I did a little research. Here is a link to a document I created. Let me know what you thing about it.

Was Asetek right to protect their intellectual property?

thats pretty good. but you forgot beginning "

 

[RGE]

now is only they guys at swiftech see that.

It costs more in legal fees to invalidate a patent, than would be made by selling water cooling kits. Hence why patent trolling is popular, often doesnt make business sense to fight them. Which is why I like Newegg, home of the patent troll squashers.

Patents are easily obtained, but 90% are invalidated or narrowed when challenged. Has always been that way, because the patent system has neither the resources nor the knowledge to determine the validity of patents, it is left to the courts and the involved corporations to do all the research.

The best thing is just to boycott companies that pull crap like patenting something that people were doing long before patents started creeping up.

An AIO is simply a water cooling system with glycol that doesnt need refilling, the fact it is already put together is irrelevant. Funny, because the first water coolers did just that, used a tline to fill, then removed t line, and I am pretty sure mine was assembled otherwise would not work. Only later people started leaving t lines as fill ports started popping up. If I had my old hard drives, I would have pics of water cooled glycol, no fill lines or reservoirs...way prior to 2005.

 

[MisterEd]

It costs more in legal fees to invalidate a patent, than would be made by selling water cooling kits. Hence why patent trolling is popular, often doesnt make business sense to fight them. Which is why I like Newegg, home of the patent troll squashers.

Patents are easily obtained, but 90% are invalidated or narrowed when challenged. Has always been that way, because the patent system has neither the resources nor the knowledge to determine the validity of patents, it is left to the courts and the involved corporations to do all the research.

The best thing is just to boycott companies that pull crap like patenting something that people were doing long before patents started creeping up.

An AIO is simply a water cooling system with glycol that doesnt need refilling, the fact it is already put together is irrelevant. Funny, because the first water coolers did just that, used a tline to fill, then removed t line, and I am pretty sure mine was assembled otherwise would not work. Only later people started leaving t lines as fill ports started popping up. If I had my old hard drives, I would have pics of water cooled glycol, no fill lines or reservoirs...way prior to 2005.

It is surprising how much patent trolling has been going on. For example:

SCO Group sued over claims of ownership of UNIX and patent violations by Linux vendors and users. Even Microsoft joined the mix by helping SCO obtain over $100 million.

Unisys sued after claiming to own the LZW compression patent. Because CompuServe's GIF graphics format used LZW compression Unisys sued anyone that used the GIF format.

Forgent Networks sued after claiming to own the patent for the JPEG graphics format.

British Telecom sued after claiming to own the patent for hyperlinking.

 

[Robert17]

Saw this on TPU. It may be Swiftech's re-entry into the market, via Cooler Master:

http://www.techpowerup.com/192997/cooler-master-announces-the-glacer-240l-cpu-liquid-cooler.html

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Lawl. That's the H220 rebranded with Cool Master fans on it.

If you think about it, these AIO DIY expandable loops are a huge threat to Asetek. Me thinks there will be another law suit. Maybe Gabe at Swiftech didn't know how to fight this but Coolmaster does or has more funds.

We shall see what's in store.

Good catch Robert.

 

[RnRollie]

Lawl. That's the H100 rebranded with Cool Master fans on it.

If you think about it, these AIO DIY expandable loops are a huge threat to Asetek. Me thinks there will be another law suit. Maybe Gabe at Swiftech didn't know how to fight this but Coolmaster does or has more funds.

We shall see what's in store.

Good catch Robert.

Looks like a H220 rebranded to me....
Way to go Gabe

 

[ivanlabrie]

I'm getting one...Swiftech ftw

 

[Robert17]

The h100 is Corsair, not Cooler Master. Yeah, it does look like a Swifty with a new badge. I'm interested to see what the guts' particulars read like...

 

[GTXJackBauer]

The h100 is Corsair, not Cooler Master.

Thanks for that. Edited the typo.