Directed Energy Deposition Patent Landscape 2026
The directed energy deposition (DED) patent space is moderately concentrated, with Norsk Titanium AS holding a clear lead and aerospace and energy players filling the tier below. The field reached peak annual filing volume in 2023 and has since plateaued, with the United States remaining the dominant filing jurisdiction by a wide margin.
Norsk Titanium leads a fragmented but consolidating applicant field
Norsk Titanium AS holds the top position with 19 patent families, nearly double the next-ranked applicant, establishing a clear but not impenetrable lead in the DED standalone space. The top five filers together account for 26% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating moderate rather than extreme concentration.
A distinct tier gap separates the leader from the second tier — Owens Corning Intellectual Capital LLC at 9 patent families, Linde AG and Siemens AG at 8 each, and Rolls-Royce Corp and Relativity Space Inc at 7 — suggesting that challengers are active but have not yet closed the gap with the front-runner.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norsk Titanium AS | 19 | |
| 2 | Owens Corning Intellectual Capital LLC | 9 | |
| 3 | Linde AG | 8 | |
| 4 | Siemens AG | 8 | |
| 5 | Rolls-Royce Corp | 7 | |
| 6 | Relativity Space Inc | 7 | |
| 7 | RTX Corp | 6 | |
| 8 | Directed Metal 3D SL | 6 | |
| 9 | Rosemount Aerospace Inc | 6 | |
| 10 | DMG Mori Co Ltd | 6 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Fluid Handling LLC | 6 | |
| 12 | Siemens Energy Inc | 6 | |
| 13 | Divergent Technologies Inc | 5 | |
| 14 | GE Avio S.r.l. | 5 | |
| 15 | BAE Systems PLC | 5 | |
| 16 | The Boeing Company | 4 | |
| 17 | Illinois Tool Works Inc | 3 | |
| 18 | Ebara Corporation | 3 | |
| 19 | Hitachi Ltd | 3 | |
| 20 | GKN Aerospace Sweden AB | 3 |
The leader’s position is built predominantly on welding and brazing process expertise (B23K), while challengers tend to emphasize additive manufacturing process frameworks (B33Y) or powder metallurgy (B22F), implying differentiated technology routes rather than head-on replication.
Filing counts for 2025 and 2026 are subject to publication lag and are expected to rise as pending applications are published; the apparent dip in those years should not be read as a structural decline. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Annual volume peaked in 2023; technology mix is dominated by three core IPC classes
The filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal a field that expanded sharply from 2017 to 2023 and is now plateauing, with its IP anchored in three overlapping process classes that reflect DED’s multi-disciplinary nature.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings grew from 7 in 2017 to a peak of 31 in 2023, then registered 24 in 2024. The 2025 and 2026 counts (16 and 2 respectively) are materially under-reported due to publication lag and should be treated as floors, not final figures. The net effect is a field that expanded strongly on a multi-year basis but has eased from its 2023 peak.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
Three IPC classes dominate: B33Y (additive manufacturing, 146 records), B22F (powder metallurgy, 131 records), and B23K (welding, soldering and brazing, 118 records), reflecting DED’s fusion of energy-beam deposition, feedstock handling, and joining science. Application-domain branches such as F01D (turbines, 17 records) and B29C (shaping of plastics, 21 records) are present but at lower density, indicating selective aerospace and polymer-extension activity.
↗ 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.
Method for manufacturing turbine labyrinth seal us…
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a labyrinth seal using wire arc additive manufacturing, which is mounted between a diaphragm of a turbine and a turbine rotor to induce a smooth rotation of the turbine rotor and preventing gas leakage by minimizing friction between the diaphragm of a turbine and a turbine rotor when a rotating… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一种提高激光增材制造薄壁件成形质量的方法及装置 | 37 |
| 2 | Composite member and method for manufacturing comp… | 35 |
| 3 | Systems and methods for global thermal control of … | 28 |
| 4 | DED arc three-dimensional alloy metal powder print… | 20 |
| 5 | Additive-manufacturing head, manufacturing machine… | 15 |
| 6 | Distortion mitigation in directed energy deposition | 14 |
| 7 | Method and system for additive manufacturing or re… | 14 |
| 8 | Structural simulation of additively manufactured c… | 12 |
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.
What the DED patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a plateauing filing rate, moderate concentration, absent formal co-filing networks, and a US-centric jurisdiction profile shapes where new entrants and incumbents can realistically position.
Field at plateau after a 2023 peak
Annual DED filings peaked in 2023 at 31 families and have eased since, consistent with a maturing technology entering a consolidation phase. The multi-year growth window (21% recent growth) remains positive, but the pace of new filing is no longer accelerating. R&D investment should focus on differentiated sub-routes rather than broad platform coverage, as the broad claims space is increasingly occupied.
Lifecycle: MaturingModerate concentration with an exploitable tier gap
The top five filers hold 26% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — moderate concentration that leaves meaningful room for challengers. The gap between Norsk Titanium AS (19 patent families) and the second tier (7–9 families each) is significant but not insurmountable. Several second-tier players — Owens Corning, Linde AG, Directed Metal 3D SL — are new entrants with rapidly growing recent portfolios, signalling active competition below the leader.
Concentration: ModerateNo formal co-filing networks identified
The collaboration evidence is pending — no co-applicant filings were detected in this corpus. The absence of joint-filing activity suggests DED innovation is currently pursued through proprietary, firm-level strategies rather than consortium or university-industry partnerships. This creates both a risk (no shared pre-competitive IP) and an opportunity (potential first-mover advantage in establishing collaborative IP frameworks, particularly with the university applicants visible in the broader applicant list).
Collaboration: AbsentUS-centric with selective European and PCT coverage
The United States leads with 76 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 41 and WIPO/PCT at 23. China holds 12 records — low relative to its broader manufacturing technology presence — and India, Canada, and Australia each hold single-digit counts. For applicants seeking broad protection, the US-EPO-PCT corridor is the established path; the relatively thin Chinese coverage represents a geographic white space that competitors could exploit.
Geography: US-ledGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Norsk Titanium leads on welding-route depth; challengers enter via additive and powder routes
The leader holds a strong position built on deep B23K (welding and brazing) process IP, while new entrants are approaching from B33Y additive manufacturing frameworks and B22F powder metallurgy — distinct technical routes that reduce direct claim overlap.
Norsk Titanium AS
Norsk Titanium AS leads with 19 patent families, concentrated in welding, soldering, and brazing process classes (B23K 26, B23K 37, B23K 9) — reflecting its wire-arc DED heritage. However, recent momentum has sharply declined (▼ –81% vs prior period), suggesting the company’s foundational patent-building phase may be complete and attention has shifted to defending existing IP or to operational deployment rather than further filing.
19 patent familiesOwens Corning Intellectual Capital LLC
Owens Corning Intellectual Capital LLC enters the DED landscape as a new entrant with 9 patent families, all filed in the recent period, focused on powder metallurgy (B22F 10, B22F 5) and welding/brazing (B23K 10). This trajectory signals an aggressive push to establish a position in DED-adjacent materials processing, likely tied to composite or fiber-reinforced substrate applications, and warrants close monitoring as the portfolio matures.
9 patent families| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Norsk Titanium AS | 3 | ▼ -81% |
| Owens Corning Intellectual Capital LLC | 8 | ▲ new entrant |
| Linde AG | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
| Relativity Space Inc | 5 | ▲ new entrant |
| RTX Corp | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Directed Metal 3D SL | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the DED core
Several IPC branches appear at lower density relative to the dominant B33Y/B22F/B23K core. These are observations of relative sparsity; only those with plausible technical value and a realistic entry path are highlighted as worth watching.
F01D · Turbines and non-positive displacement engines
With 17 patent records and a 3% share of the technology composition, F01D sits at the intersection of DED’s core capabilities and one of its highest-value applications — turbine blade repair and near-net-shape fabrication. Aerospace primes (Rolls-Royce, RTX, GE Avio) are active in the adjacent B33Y/B23K space, but dedicated F01D DED claims are sparse. An entrant with expertise in high-temperature alloy deposition and thermal fatigue modeling could establish defensible IP in this branch with relatively few filings.
Search this in Eureka →C03B · Glass manufacture and shaping
C03B appears with only 7 patent records and a 1% share — the lowest-density branch among the white-space candidates. DED of glass and ceramic-matrix materials is technically demanding but increasingly relevant for photonics, aerospace radomes, and high-temperature insulators. The sparsity here likely reflects genuine process difficulty rather than lack of interest; entrants with capability in laser-assisted glass deposition or hybrid ceramic-metal structures would face minimal prior-art density.
Search this in Eureka →How leading DED applicants differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | B33Y 10 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B22F 10 · Powder metallurgy | B23K 26 · Welding, soldering & brazing | B33Y 30 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B23K 9 · Welding, soldering & brazing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norsk Titanium AS | Strong · 12 | Strong · 11 | Strong · 15 | Strong · 12 | Strong · 12 |
| Owens Corning Intellectual Capital LLC | Strong · 7 | Strong · 9 | Strong · 6 | Absent | Strong · 7 |
| Directed Metal 3D SL | Strong · 6 | Strong · 6 | Strong · 6 | Strong · 6 | Absent |
| Siemens Energy Inc | Strong · 7 | Absent | Strong · 7 | Strong · 5 | Absent |
| DMG Mori Co Ltd | Strong · 6 | Absent | Strong · 6 | Strong · 5 | Absent |
| Rosemount Aerospace Inc | Strong · 5 | Absent | Strong · 5 | Strong · 5 | Absent |
| Siemens AG | Strong · 5 | Absent | Strong · 5 | Strong · 5 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 178 patent families. The United States is the leading filing jurisdiction with 76 patent records, followed by the EPO at 41 and WIPO/PCT at 23.
Norsk Titanium AS leads with 19 patent families, nearly double the second-ranked applicant, Owens Corning Intellectual Capital LLC, which holds 9 patent families. Linde AG and Siemens AG each hold 8 patent families.
The field is still expanding on a multi-year basis — recent-window growth is 21% — though annual filing volume has eased from its 2023 peak of 31 families. The apparent low counts for 2025 and 2026 reflect publication lag rather than a confirmed structural decline.
Three IPC classes account for the bulk of coverage: B33Y (additive manufacturing, 146 records), B22F (powder metallurgy, 131 records), and B23K (welding, soldering and brazing, 118 records). Application-domain branches such as F01D (turbines) and B29C (plastics shaping) are present at lower density.
No co-applicant filing activity was detected in this corpus. DED innovation currently appears to be pursued through proprietary, firm-level strategies, with no identifiable consortium or university-industry joint-filing partnerships among the top applicants.
The most notable under-served adjacent branches are F01D (turbines and non-positive displacement engines, 17 records, 3% share) and C03B (glass manufacture and shaping, 7 records, 1% share). Both sit adjacent to DED’s core process classes but have relatively sparse dedicated coverage compared to the B33Y/B22F/B23K core.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
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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