Additive Manufacturing Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
Additive manufacturing patents: who is filing, what they claim, and where the field is still open
Filing has cooled from its 2018 peak of 1,457 records, with the 2021→2024 span down 39% (1,202 to 739) — though 2025 onward is still filling in as publication lags filing. Annual filings ran from 1,223 in 2017 to a peak of 1,457 in 2018, then eased across the following years to 112 in 2026 (a partial year). The clearest complete-year comparison in the data is 2021 to 2024, where filings fell 39% (1,202 to 739) — a real contraction, but one that predates any read on 2025-26, which are still filling in.
- 1STRATASYS INC5.2%
- 2GENERAL ELECTRIC CO4.7%
- 3CARBON INC2.9%
- 4MARKFORGED INC2.8%
- 5SEURAT TECHNOLOGIES INC2.4%
See the full additive manufacturing patent landscape analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on additive manufacturing patents
Who holds the most additive manufacturing patents?
One assignee leads the ranked field with 666 records, well ahead of the fifth-place company at 312 and tenth place at 159. The gap between first and fifth is steep, but the gap from fifth to tenth is much shallower, meaning the field has one dominant filer sitting above a broad second tier rather than a handful of firms bunched at the top. The ranking covers 100 companies in total, so this leader still accounts for a small fraction of the 12,769 records in scope.
Is additive manufacturing patent filing growing or slowing down?
Filing peaked in 2018 at 1,457 records and has declined since, with the most reliable complete-year comparison — 2021 to 2024 — showing a 39% drop, from 1,202 to 739. Years after 2024 should not be read as confirming a further slowdown, because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and will rise as more records publish. The honest read is a real multi-year contraction through 2024, with the most recent period genuinely unknown yet.
What patent classes cover additive manufacturing process patents?
The two largest IPC subclasses are B33Y (additive manufacturing / 3D printing specifically), covering 50.0% of the 12,769 records, and B29C (shaping of plastics), covering 45.4%. B22F (powder metallurgy) follows at 24.6%, and smaller but notable shares sit in B23K (welding, soldering and brazing) at 11.2% and G05B (control and regulating systems) at 9.6%. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should not be summed into a total.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Additive Manufacturing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.