One company's 20-year stranglehold on CPU coolers is finally ending

If you have an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler in your PC, there's a good chance it was designed by Asetek. On May 6, 2005, Asetek filed a patent for its AIO design, which it has maintained for the past 20 years. Now, that patent has expired, as reported by Heise. Although Asetek has sold CPU coolers over the past 20 years, the vast majority of its prominence has come through licensing agreements. Similar to a company like ARM, Asetek built a name for itself by selling its design to other companies rather than building products itself. That's ending.