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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/coolant-distribution-unit-and-secondary-loop-design-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Datacenter InfrastructureCoolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design Patents
- Concentrated at the top. The five most active filers account for 46.8% of all 203 records in scope, with the leader alone holding 32 filings.
- Filing activity has cooled from its peak. Filings ran from 27 in 2021 down to 10 in 2024, a -63% move over that span, even as 2025 posted the highest single-year count on record at 32 — a gap that publication lag partly explains.
- Almost all activity sits in one IPC class. H05K (printed circuits & assemblies) touches 69.5% of the 203 records, meaning most CDU claims are being drafted as electronics-packaging cooling, not as standalone fluid-handling systems.
203
Published Records
47%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-63%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (27 records) with 2024 (10) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 203 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent filings that combine a coolant distribution unit, secondary fluid loop, or facility water interface with claim language around approach temperature, pump redundancy, flow control, filtration, water chemistry, leak detection, containment or capacity. That search boundary captures the hardware and control logic that sits between a datacenter's facility water supply and the liquid loop that touches server electronics — the interface layer that determines how much heat a rack can reject and how safely water gets near compute.
203 records fall inside this scope, spanning filings from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years understate real filing activity and should be read as provisional rather than as a genuine slowdown.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2017–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Coolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The Data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 203-record dataset: one tracking when filings were made, the other showing which technical subclasses those filings sit in.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Annual filings ran from 14 in 2017 to a peak of 32 in 2025, with the most recent year (2026, partial) at 8. The 2021-to-2024 window shows a genuine contraction — 27 down to 10, a -63% move — before the count climbs again in 2025; treat 2025 and 2026 as still filling in rather than as a rebound or a new peak confirmed.
IPC technology composition
H05K (printed circuits & assemblies) appears in 69.5% of the 203 records, far ahead of G06F (13.8%), F25D (12.8%) and F28D (11.3%). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares sum to more than 100% — the concentration in H05K signals that most applicants frame CDU and secondary-loop inventions as rack- or chassis-level electronics cooling rather than as generic HVAC or refrigeration equipment.
Shares are the percentage of the 203 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Coolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited records in this space
Representative Filing
US20100236772A1 — Modular scalable coolant distribution unit
VETTE TECHNOLOGY, LLC
An equipment cooling system and method employing modular scalable coolant distribution units that interface with each other to provide liquid cooling for computer data centers. The coolant distribution unit (CDU) permits the use of elevated water temperatures without increasing the load on the computer room air conditioning. A control unit processes environment data to control pump and valve components supporting redundancy and multiple primary and secondary coolant loops.Filed by Vette Technology, LLC; published 2010-09-23.
Most-cited records
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6973801B1 | Cooling system and method employing a closed loop coolant path and micro-scaled cooling structure within an e… | 196 |
| 2 | US20100236772A1 | Modular scalable coolant distribution unit | 114 |
| 3 | US20100078160A1 | Free-cooling including modular coolant distribution unit | 66 |
| 4 | US8297069B2 | Modular scalable coolant distribution unit | 63 |
| 5 | US20090260384A1 | Coolant Distribution System For A Rack Having A Rear-Door Heat Exchanger | 58 |
| 6 | US6778393B2 | Cooling device with multiple compliant elements | 49 |
| 7 | US20180324976A1 | Fan-less chiller-less liquid-air cooling for electronic racks of it components in data centers | 47 |
| 8 | US20060137853A1 | Ventilation/heating and/or air conditioning device for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle with simu… | 44 |
| 9 | US20180299933A1 | Method and system for removing heat using heat removal liquid based on workload of server components of elect… | 41 |
| 10 | US20220151097A1 | Multi-Rack Immersion Cooling Distribution System | 38 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Coolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for strategy
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting or licensing a position in this space.
Concentration
46.8%
of 203 records held by top 5 filers
The field is led by a small group, not one company alone
The top 5 assignees combined account for 46.8% of all 203 records, and the top 10 reach 65.0%. That is meaningful concentration, but the leader's 32 filings against a total of 203 means no single company has cornered the space — there is room to differentiate against the leader without immediately colliding with a dominant blocking position.
Based on the full 67-company ranked list.
Filing momentum
-63%
filings, 2021 to 2024
A real contraction, not a plateau
Filings fell from 27 in 2021 to 10 in 2024 — a genuine three-year decline. The jump to 32 in 2025 looks like a rebound, but with publication lag of roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not yet be read as a confirmed reversal.
2024 is the most recent year treated as complete.
Technology mix
69.5%
of records touch H05K
Claims cluster around electronics packaging, not plumbing
H05K dominance alongside smaller but non-trivial shares in F25D, F28D and F25B shows applicants are drafting CDU inventions as rack-level thermal management rather than generic refrigeration or HVAC equipment. Classes like F24T (geothermal, 3.4%) and F24F (air conditioning, 3.4%) remain thin, suggesting facility-side integration claims are comparatively under-filed.
Shares sum above 100% because records carry multiple IPC classes.
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to coolant distribution unit and secondary loop design, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Coolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked list covers 67 companies across the full 203-record dataset — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, but the entire set the search returns.
Leader
32
records
A clear leader with room below it
The top-ranked assignee holds 32 of the 203 records in scope, roughly six times the fifth-place count of 12. That gap suggests an early, sustained filing program rather than a recent land grab, and it means newer entrants are filing into a field with one dominant but not exclusive position.
Fifth place sits at 12 records; tenth place at 6.
Momentum
-100% YoY
for several mid-table filers
Several established filers went quiet in the latest year
A number of previously active assignees — including firms with double-digit historical filing counts — show zero filings in the latest year, a -100% year-over-year move for several of them. Read this alongside the 18-month publication lag: it may reflect genuine pause, or filings not yet published rather than exit from the space.
Only one tracked assignee shows any activity (1 filing) in the latest year.
Collaboration
8
co-assignee pairs
Co-filing is rare and concentrated in one pairing
Only 8 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest by far links two related entities filing together 7 times. Outside that pairing, co-assignment activity is sparse — most filings in this space come from a single named assignee rather than joint ventures or research partnerships.
The dominant pair accounts for 7 of the 8 recorded co-filings.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corp | 1 | — |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | 0 | — |
| Baidu USA LLC | 0 | — |
| Vertiv Corp | 0 | -100% |
| Hoffman Enclosures Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Green Revolution Cooling | 0 | -100% |
| International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) | 0 | — |
| WESTON JEFFREY A | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Coolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this from here
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing, or new claim drafting.
Check freedom-to-operate against the cited core
The most-cited records, several dating back over a decade, define the baseline architecture most later filings build on. Any new CDU or secondary-loop design should be checked against these before drafting claims.
Explore prior art with Eureka →Watch the 2025–2026 filings as they publish
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the apparent 2025 rebound is not yet fully visible. Re-checking this trend in the next filing cycle will show whether the contraction from 2021–2024 has genuinely reversed.
Track filing trends in Eureka →Map the thin IPC branches before they fill in
Classes like F24T and F24F sit well below H05K in filing density. That gap is either unclaimed ground or a sign the technology is still routed through mechanical rather than electronics-packaging classifications — worth confirming before assuming it's open.
Run a white space search in Eureka →Source: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Coolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this landscape
Within this 203-record dataset, one assignee leads with 32 filings, well ahead of the fifth-ranked company at 12. The top 5 companies together account for 46.8% of all records, and the top 10 reach 65.0%, so while the field has a clear leader, it is not a single-company monopoly — a ranked list of 67 companies shows meaningful activity beyond the leader. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at both the leader's filing count and the size of the group immediately behind it.
Filings fell from 27 in 2021 to 10 in 2024, a genuine -63% contraction over that three-year window. The count then rose to a peak of 32 in 2025, but because patent publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, 2025 and 2026 data are still incomplete and should not yet be read as a confirmed rebound. The safest read is that 2024 is the last year with a reliable complete count, and the trend before that point shows real cooling.
H05K, the IPC class covering printed circuits and electronic assemblies, appears in 69.5% of the 203 records in scope, making it by far the dominant classification. G06F (digital data processing, 13.8%), F25D (refrigeration, 12.8%) and F28D (heat exchangers, 11.3%) trail well behind. This distribution shows most applicants are framing CDU inventions as rack-level electronics cooling rather than as general-purpose refrigeration or HVAC equipment, which matters for how a new filing should be classified and searched against.
US20100236772A1, assigned to Vette Technology, LLC and published in 2010, describes a modular, scalable coolant distribution unit that lets multiple CDUs interface with each other, supports elevated facility water temperatures without extra load on room air conditioning, and includes a control unit managing pump and valve redundancy across multiple primary and secondary loops. It is the second most-cited record in this dataset at 114 citations, meaning a large share of later filings sit downstream of it. Anyone designing a new CDU with modular interconnection or redundant multi-loop control should review its claims directly rather than assume prior art searches alone clear the path.
Filing density is comparatively thin in classes like F24T (geothermal systems) and F24F (air conditioning and ventilation), each touching only 3.4% of the 203 records, compared with 69.5% for the dominant H05K class. That gap suggests facility-side integration — linking secondary loops to geothermal or building HVAC systems rather than purely to rack-level electronics — is less thoroughly claimed. It is not proof the area is unpatented, but it is a reasonable starting point for a novelty search before drafting new claims there.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Coolant Distribution Unit and Secondary Loop Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.