Nortek Air Solutions, a prominent provider of custom air handling solutions, has initiated legal action against a competitor, alleging the misappropriation of trade secrets related to data center cooling technologies. The lawsuit contends that the rival company engaged in targeted recruitment of Nortek employees to gain access to proprietary information, particularly in response to the escalating demand for advanced cooling systems driven by the artificial intelligence boom.
This legal move underscores the intensifying competition within the data center cooling industry, where companies are striving to develop innovative solutions to meet the needs of increasingly powerful and heat-intensive computing systems. Nortek has been at the forefront of this innovation, notably through its collaboration with Facebook in 2015 to develop the StatePoint™ Liquid Cooling (SPLC) system. This technology, celebrated as “The World’s First Sustainable Data Center Cooling Technology,” utilizes a microporous membrane exchanger to efficiently cool water without cross-contamination between air and water streams. The SPLC system aims to reduce both energy and water consumption in data centers, addressing critical environmental concerns. ([electronics-cooling.com](https://www.electronics-cooling.com/2020/01/nortek-celebrates-the-completion-of-the-first-statepoint-liquid-cooling-system/?utm_source=openai))
The current allegations suggest that the competitor’s recruitment efforts were strategically aimed at individuals with intimate knowledge of such proprietary technologies. By allegedly “raiding” Nortek’s workforce, the rival company is accused of attempting to shortcut the research and development process, potentially compromising Nortek’s competitive edge in the market.
This case is part of a broader trend of legal disputes in the data center cooling sector. For instance, in 2016, Air Enterprises Acquisition, the exclusive U.S. distributor of KyotoCooling’s heat wheel-based cooling system, filed a lawsuit against Nortek, accusing it of patent infringement. The patent in question described a data center cooling system that relies on a heat wheel in an indirect economization process, a technology used to maximize the use of outside air for cooling. ([datacenterknowledge.com](https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/cooling/firm-files-data-center-heat-wheel-patent-infringement-lawsuit?utm_source=openai))
More recently, in June 2026, Green Revolution Cooling Inc. accused Riot Platforms Inc. of infringing its patents concerning cooling technology utilized by Riot’s bitcoin mining facilities in Texas. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Riot’s facilities in Corsicana and Rockdale infringe on Green Revolution’s patent. ([news.bloomberglaw.com](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/riot-platforms-sued-over-patent-for-data-center-cooling-tech?utm_source=openai))
These legal battles highlight the critical importance of intellectual property protection in the rapidly evolving field of data center cooling. As companies invest heavily in developing cutting-edge technologies to enhance energy efficiency and meet the demands of high-performance computing, safeguarding proprietary innovations becomes paramount. The outcome of Nortek’s lawsuit could have significant implications for industry practices related to employee recruitment and the protection of trade secrets.