Lian Li sues Phanteks

Lian Li sues Phanteks for patent infringement

PC case and cooling manufacturer, Lian Li is suing one of their rivals, Phanteks, for Patent Infringement in the US, alleging that the latter company’s new D30 series fans uses Lian Li’s patented innovations.

Phanteks was sent a letter by Lian Li in May 2023 informing them of Lian Li’s patents and their alleged infringement. Since then, Phanteks has continued to market and sell their D30 series fans, an action that Lian Li sees as willful infringement of their patents. The patent in question is US 10,690,336 B1, which was awarded to Lian Li in June 2020.

Lian Li’s patent is for their daisy-chain RGB fan technology, which Phanteks has allegedly infringed with their new D30 series of RGB fans. We recently reviewed Phanteks’ new Glacier One 360D30 CPU cooler, and the company daisy-chainable D30 fans are notably similar to competing daisy-chainable fans. That said, we are not experts in patent law, and we cannot comment on whether or not Phanteks’ fans infringe of Lian Li’s patents. This is what Lian Li’s lawsuit will decide.

(Phanteks’ D30 fan connector guide)

Lian Li filed their lawsuit against Phanteks on September 8th in the central district of California. With this lawsuit, Lian Li wants a judgement confirming that Phanteks has infringed on their patent, a permanent injunction against Phanteks that will prevent them or their subsidiaries from sell affected products without a license, and damages.

Should Lian Li succeed with their lawsuit, Phanteks will require a license for Lian Li’s patent to sell their D30 series fans. This lawsuit could also act as a springboard for more litigation against companies that may be infringing on this patent, or force more of Lian Li’s competitors to seek a license if they wish to sell daisy-chainable RGB PC fans.

(Phanteks’ D30 Daisy Chain fan interconnect)

With this lawsuit being freshly filed, it will likely take some time for this case to be resolved inside, or outside, of court. With this lawsuit, Lian Li seeks to protect their patented technologies, though it remains to be seen how this lawsuit will be resolved.

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