Anode Production Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Anode production and carbon plant patents: who holds the baking and pitch-binder claims
47.9% concentration. The top 5 assignees hold 318 of 664 records in scope — the field is concentrated at the top, not fragmented. Filings rose from 5 in 2021 to 9 in 2024, an 80% increase over that span, with a peak of 17 in 2022. 2025 and 2026 figures are understated because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; they should not yet be read as a slowdown.
- 1GRAFTECH INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS INC138
- 2UCAR CARBON TECH86
- 3GREAT LAKES CARBON CORP47
- 4ALCAN INTERNATIONAL LTD25
- 5RAIN CARBON GERMANY GMBH22
See the full anode production and carbon plant 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 about anode production patents
Who are the leading patent holders in anode baking and carbon plant technology?
The assignee ranking shows a clear leader holding 138 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 22 and the tenth-ranked holder at 20. The top 5 assignees combined account for 318 of the 664 records in scope, or 47.9%, and the top 10 extend that to 63.6%. This is a concentrated field where a small number of established carbon products and aluminium smelting companies hold most of the documented process claims, leaving a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants.
Is anode production patent filing activity increasing or decreasing?
Filings rose from 5 in 2021 to 9 in 2024, an increase of 80% over that span, with 2022 standing as the peak year so far at 17 filings. Because patent publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any dataset understate true activity, so 2025 and 2026 figures should not be read as a decline. Taken together, the underlying trend through the last complete year points to continued rather than slowing investment.
What technology areas dominate anode production patent claims?
Ceramics, cement and refractories (C04B) appears in 37.0% of the 664 records, electrolytic metal production (C25C) in 30.4%, and electric heating and lighting circuits (H05B) in 30.0%, making these the three dominant IPC subclasses. Non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds (C01B) and electrolytic production of compounds (C25B) follow at 18.5% and 14.2% respectively. Because a single patent can be classified under several subclasses, these percentages add up to more than 100% and should be read as overlapping coverage, not a strict breakdown.
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 Anode Production and Carbon Plant covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. 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.