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06-11-2009, 05:42 PM
Original Article
"Monster Cable's frivolous legal action concerning the name "Monster" is now epic. In the same vein, or same water cooling line rather, Aquatuning of Germany which sells many products is registering the trademark names of its many of its distributors! Such as Bitspower, Danger Den, Koolance, Swiftech, Thermochill, XSPC, and possibly others.
Aquatuning is now giving different stories to the companies that hold these trademarked names as to why Aquatuning has registered these names abroad, without notice to the US Trademark holders. One reason given is that Aquatuning were ensuring another reseller couldn't do the same and force Aquatuning out of their market. However, a competing German reseller has received a cease-and-desist letter from Aquatuning concerning one of the newly registered trademarks.
To add a bit more interest to the story, it seems that the CEO (or one of them, yes, they have two listed) of Aquatuning, Andreas Rudnicki, is also a founder of Alphacool.de, the German watercooling manufacturer which now sells under Alphacool.com."
Article Update
"We reported on this story yesterday, but have some more interesting information that is coming to light. We explained to you that Aquatuning CEO Andreas Rudnicki, was a founder of Alphacool, which is correct. Alphacool contacted us directly and made a HardForum post explaining that Mr. Rudnicki is no longer employed by Alphacool and has not been since 2006. It seems as though Mr. Rudnicki’s penchant for registering others’ marks is not a recent event and is simply a skill he acquired while at Alphacool and has taken with him to Aquatuning. We have uncovered that while Mr. Rudnicki was employed by Alphacool, he registered the mark "Black Ice" which was registered in the US and in full use by Hardware Labs here in the USA which was selling to Alphacool at the time. According to the records, the Black Ice mark was finally let go by Alphacool some time in 2007. So it would seem to us that Rudnicki’s trademark behavior, or lack thereof, is nothing new. We have sent Nathaniel Draht, the reported owner of Aquatuning an email, but have yet to get a response.
The costs associated with defending these alleged trademark violations will likely cost the hardware enthusiast money. Vote with your wallet."
I agree. This sort of bullshit is what's going to raise the price of cooling products from the affected companies.
Information courtesy of [H]ardOCP. Read the original articles here (http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=NDAwOTcsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=) and here (http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=NDAxMTcsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=).
"Monster Cable's frivolous legal action concerning the name "Monster" is now epic. In the same vein, or same water cooling line rather, Aquatuning of Germany which sells many products is registering the trademark names of its many of its distributors! Such as Bitspower, Danger Den, Koolance, Swiftech, Thermochill, XSPC, and possibly others.
Aquatuning is now giving different stories to the companies that hold these trademarked names as to why Aquatuning has registered these names abroad, without notice to the US Trademark holders. One reason given is that Aquatuning were ensuring another reseller couldn't do the same and force Aquatuning out of their market. However, a competing German reseller has received a cease-and-desist letter from Aquatuning concerning one of the newly registered trademarks.
To add a bit more interest to the story, it seems that the CEO (or one of them, yes, they have two listed) of Aquatuning, Andreas Rudnicki, is also a founder of Alphacool.de, the German watercooling manufacturer which now sells under Alphacool.com."
Article Update
"We reported on this story yesterday, but have some more interesting information that is coming to light. We explained to you that Aquatuning CEO Andreas Rudnicki, was a founder of Alphacool, which is correct. Alphacool contacted us directly and made a HardForum post explaining that Mr. Rudnicki is no longer employed by Alphacool and has not been since 2006. It seems as though Mr. Rudnicki’s penchant for registering others’ marks is not a recent event and is simply a skill he acquired while at Alphacool and has taken with him to Aquatuning. We have uncovered that while Mr. Rudnicki was employed by Alphacool, he registered the mark "Black Ice" which was registered in the US and in full use by Hardware Labs here in the USA which was selling to Alphacool at the time. According to the records, the Black Ice mark was finally let go by Alphacool some time in 2007. So it would seem to us that Rudnicki’s trademark behavior, or lack thereof, is nothing new. We have sent Nathaniel Draht, the reported owner of Aquatuning an email, but have yet to get a response.
The costs associated with defending these alleged trademark violations will likely cost the hardware enthusiast money. Vote with your wallet."
I agree. This sort of bullshit is what's going to raise the price of cooling products from the affected companies.
Information courtesy of [H]ardOCP. Read the original articles here (http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=NDAwOTcsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=) and here (http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=NDAxMTcsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=).
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