Quote Originally Posted by machinegoesping View Post
from what i can gather, it seems that they are, in fact, doing this to gain a monopoly on the water cooling market in their country. what, with trademarking the most popular brands and sending the one(i read confirmed, but i don't think anyone has actually posted the letter) cease and desist letter to a company.
In effect, they're crowning themselves as the sole distributor for all these brands, with arbitury powers to decide who can resell these products.
Only difference? They're not interested in distribution...but more interested in extortion

Quote Originally Posted by machinegoesping View Post
they would have stood to gain a substantial market share in their area had they perhaps not shot their load a little early. imagine if they had sat on that letter until the statute of limitations on the contest of the trademarks was up? there would have been no possible legal action any of the involved companies could have taken to regain their name...then, i assume, they would have sent out cease and desist letters en mass.
I had been wondering the same thing this whole time too. Why break their cover at the last possible moment and give the brands a chance to throw a wrench in the plan?
Another month or so more wouldn't have costed them much in terms of lost extortion money or monopolized product sales, compared to the amount of money at stake in the form of the "investments" made to register all these brands.

Still, I'm sure some of the brands would still have boycotted and deny further supplies to AT had the plan succeeded. AT was possibly taking a gamble that enough brands would close an eye that business could go on and any of the missing (boycotting) brands could then be replaced, Koolance style, with "identical" products, or possible even the real stuff, obtained secretly through a 3rd party to sidestep the boycott.

Alright, enough theories from me...I just hope no one tries this kinda stunt in my backyard