DED In-Process Quality Control Patent Snapshot 2026
The patent evidence snapshot for directed energy deposition (DED) in-process quality control is extremely nascent, with only 6 patent families on record and a small set of aerospace and academic filers holding essentially all documented activity. Filing has been highly sporadic, with a modest uptick visible in 2024–2025 that warrants watching given publication lag.
GKN Aerospace leads a highly concentrated, early-stage field
GKN Aerospace Services Ltd holds the top position with 2 patent families, placing it ahead of every other identified applicant — each of whom holds a single family. The top five filers collectively account for 86% of the combined total across the ranked applicants visible in this query, signalling that this space is controlled by a very small group.
There is virtually no tier gap to speak of: four of the six applicants are tied at one family each, meaning the leader’s advantage is thin and the field remains open to new entrants who move decisively.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GKN Aerospace Services Ltd | 2 | |
| 2 | JB Institute of Inventors Association | 1 | |
| 3 | Rolls-Royce Corporation | 1 | |
| 4 | Rolls-Royce PLC | 1 | |
| 5 | Sathish Kumar Parimi | 1 | |
| 6 | Nitte (Deemed to be University) | 1 |
GKN Aerospace’s focus on image-data processing and additive manufacturing process control, combined with Rolls-Royce’s dual-entity presence in powder metallurgy, suggests that aerospace OEMs are the primary IP holders — but their combined volume is too small to constitute a defensive moat.
The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are subject to publication lag and will likely undercount actual activity; 2025 figures should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Sporadic filing history with a potential 2024–2025 inflection, anchored in additive manufacturing IP
The trend chart and technology composition together reveal a field that has seen almost no sustained filing activity for most of its recorded history, with the technology mix dominated by additive manufacturing classes.
Annual filing trend
Two families were filed in 2017, followed by a complete gap through 2023. A single family appeared in 2024 and three in 2025 — but given the 18–24 month publication lag, the 2025 figure is provisional and the apparent uptick should not yet be read as a confirmed trend reversal.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B33Y (additive manufacturing) accounts for all 6 families, confirming DED process control as the core subject. Secondary branches — B22F (powder metallurgy), B23K (welding/brazing), B29C (plastics shaping), and G06T (image processing) — each appear in 2 families, reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of in-process monitoring. Lower-frequency branches such as A61B, G06N, H01L, and H02J represent single-family observations at the periphery.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Defect detection and correction
Boundary detection for an object manufactured by 3D printing comprises receiving 21 an, IR or near-infrared, first image of a first layer of the object. A computer aided design (CAD) model representing the object is sliced 23 into slices, a slice corresponding to the first layer is selected 24 and output 25 as a second image having a border representing an… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Defect detection and correction | 2 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
GKN Aerospace Services Ltd
GKN Aerospace holds 2 patent families — the largest position in the corpus. Its technical emphasis spans plastics shaping (B29C), additive manufacturing process control (B33Y50), and image data processing (G06T7), indicating a sensor-and-vision-based approach to in-process monitoring. No recent momentum signal is available in the applicant-momentum data for GKN, suggesting its filings predate the 2024–2025 window.
families: 2Rolls-Royce (Corp & PLC)
Rolls-Royce Corp and Rolls-Royce PLC together account for 2 patent families filed as a coordinated intra-group pair. Both entities share identical technology focus in powder metallurgy (B22F10, B22F12, B22F5), pointing to a materials-process-control angle rather than vision-based monitoring. Both entities are flagged as new entrants in the applicant-momentum data, meaning their filings fall within the most recent activity window.
families: 1 eachFrequently asked questions
The corpus contains 6 patent families. This is a very small body of IP, indicating that the field is at a pre-competitive stage with limited documented invention.
GKN Aerospace Services Ltd holds the largest position with 2 patent families, placing it ahead of all other identified applicants who each hold one family.
India leads with 3 filings, followed by the United Kingdom with 2 and the United States with 1. The US is notably under-represented given its broader role in additive manufacturing innovation.
B33Y (additive manufacturing) covers all 6 families. Secondary branches — B22F (powder metallurgy), B23K (welding/brazing), B29C (plastics shaping), and G06T (image data processing) — each appear in 2 families, reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of DED process monitoring.
One co-filing link is documented: between Rolls-Royce Corp and Rolls-Royce PLC, covering 1 shared family. This appears to be an intra-group filing rather than a cross-organization alliance. No external collaborations are evident in the corpus.
Filing was concentrated in 2017 (2 families), then absent through 2023, with 1 family appearing in 2024 and 3 in 2025. Given the 18–24 month publication lag, the 2025 figure is provisional. The pattern suggests sporadic early exploration rather than sustained momentum, though the recent uptick merits monitoring.
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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.
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