This is still a developing story, however it has matured enough to where we feel confident about discussing it. It kicked off last week when the proprietor of Mayhem Solutions Ltd, better known simply as Mayhems, shared information regarding Thermaltake introducing their own Pastel-branded coolants to be used in the PC DIY water cooling sector. Mayhems has had a trademark registered for this in the UK since 2015, and let Thermaltake know via email to try to reach an amenable solution. Indeed, EKWB and Alphacool had both used the Pastel trademark with Mayhems' permission in the past, some of which also came via using the Mayhems Pastel base under their respective brand names. After word from Thermaltake's legal team, first trying to defend the use of Pastel as a generic term, and then saying that they would work on a compromise, Mayhems told us they have not heard back from the company in over a week since the last correspondence, and are forced to take legal action to prevent Thermaltake P1000 pastel coolants to be sold in the UK.

We wanted to have due diligence in our reporting, and contacted Thermaltake ourselves for a statement. After receiving word that they will send us one, we too have not heard back from the company since. We respect Thermaltake's decision, and are always willing to update this post if they do send us one, but in the meantime we went further. Indeed, a careful look at the trademark (screenshots seen below) confirms Mayhem's legal stance on this matter. However, it is not easy to enforce a trademark in the court. It would be all the more harder to do so when there can be an argument made about the use of the term pastel, which no doubt Thermaltake would argue is not necessarily tied to the coolant, but more as the general term to showcase the various colors and the opaque-nature of said coolants. More on this story past the break, including quotes from retailers we spoke to.We will note again that the lack of a two-sided conversation has hurt not only our efforts in providing a complete story, but also Mayhem's efforts in reaching an agreement. Mayhems told us that the last offer they sent to Thermaltake was with the intention to put this in the past. They wanted Thermaltake to make a £100 donation to a charity in exchange for permission to use the registered trademark. Putting aside the whole legal vs ethical aspect of this, and however challenging an argument Thermaltake may put forth in court, surely it makes complete business sense to agree to this settlement. Unfortunately, Thermaltake does not seem to think so, and it is very likely we will see a legal resolution to this matter.

Perhaps it was the trademark violation, or even just the development of this saga, but several retailers in the DIY water cooling industry spoke exclusively to us and said they will not be stocking the Thermaltake P1000 pastel coolants regardless of what happens. Indeed, this includes retailers who are not even in the UK, which shows that perhaps Thermaltake may want to rethink their position on this.

Performance PCs (USA) said the following:

Mayhems has asked nicely and only asked for a small monetary yearly fee. So yes, we are supporting Mayhems on principle. No, we will not stock the new coolant until they correct the problem. We still have their older fluid.

HighFlow (Netherlands) said the following:

As far as we know, Mayhems were the first to name their solid colored coolants "Pastel" a long time ago. We've been selling Mayhems Pastel for many many years now and therefore when we hear Pastel coolant, we think of Mayhems Pastel coolant. So when another brand is also using Pastel in the product name for their coolants, it causes confusion and we understand Mayhems opinion about this. We hope Mayhems and Thermaltake can find a win-win agreement with each other, we won't be stocking Thermaltake Pastel coolant until this issue between them is solved.

We also contacted Overclockers UK, who are right in the middle of this being based in the UK, but understandably they did not want to provide an official quote directly regarding this. They did tell us the following, however:

..when it comes to fluid we have a very good relationship with Mayhems and we would not do anything to jeopardise this.

Reading between the lines, it does seem that while Mayhems may yet have a hard time getting their registered trademark enforced in court, Thermaltake is going to have a harder time selling their new coolants in the UK and elsewhere. We were also contacted by people claiming to be erstwhile CaseLabs employees, who then told more about how their own legal woes with Thermaltake supposedly went. Some such instances include using a foreign PR firm to pretend to get information on the company which would then be provided to the legal department of Thermaltake, using social media posts as proof of libel, and also pretending to be customers and enticing a false sense of security to get the company to speak bad about Thermaltake. Again, these are not verifiable incidents, so it is best to take these with a grain of salt at best. We also request our readers recognize this is an ongoing story with legal repercussions, and so please comment accordingly.