Directed Energy Deposition Patent Landscape 2026
Directed Energy Deposition Patent Landscape in 2026
The directed energy deposition field spans 5,321 patent families and is past its 2020 peak, with annual volume easing back while the multi-year base remains substantial. Align Technology and General Electric lead a moderately concentrated field where aerospace, dental, and metal-powder processing form the dominant technology routes.
Align Technology leads a moderately concentrated field
Align Technology holds the top position with 353 patent families, followed closely by General Electric at 323 and DMG Mori at 204. The top five filers — Align Technology, General Electric, DMG Mori, Boeing, and Divergent Technologies — together account for 29% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating meaningful but not overwhelming concentration.
A clear tier gap separates the top three (204–353 patent families each) from the mid-tier cluster of Boeing, Divergent Technologies, and Nikon (each around 135), and a broader second tier running from Proterial at 130 down through Siemens Energy Global and Alcoa. Below rank ten, portfolio sizes drop below 85 patent families, meaning the field has a relatively open middle ground.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Align Technology Inc | 353 | |
| 2 | General Electric Company | 323 | |
| 3 | DMG Mori Co Ltd | 204 | |
| 4 | The Boeing Company | 136 | |
| 5 | Divergent Technologies Inc | 135 | |
| 6 | Nikon Corporation | 135 | |
| 7 | Proterial Ltd | 130 | |
| 8 | SIEMENS ENERGY GLOBAL GMBH & CO KG | 108 | |
| 9 | Alcoa Inc | 107 | |
| 10 | Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation | 85 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | RTX Corporation | 85 | |
| 12 | Rolls-Royce Corp | 83 | |
| 13 | Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 77 | |
| 14 | Applied Materials Inc | 72 | |
| 15 | Dow Silicones Corporation | 67 | |
| 16 | French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) | 64 | |
| 17 | JTEKT Corporation | 54 | |
| 18 | Stratasys Inc | 49 | |
| 19 | HRL Laboratories LLC | 44 | |
| 20 | Norsk Titanium AS | 43 |
Align Technology’s strength in dental additive manufacturing and General Electric’s broad process-and-materials coverage reflect two distinct strategic axes in this space. DMG Mori’s machine-tool heritage gives it a third axis centered on hybrid laser-welding and precision machining integration. These divergent emphases suggest the field has not yet converged around a single dominant design.
Filings from 2024 onward are subject to normal publication lag and are likely under-counted; conclusions about recent-year volume 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.
Activity peaked in 2020 and has eased; additive manufacturing dominates the technology mix
The two charts below show how annual filing volume has evolved since 2017 and how the underlying IPC classification mix is distributed across the 5,321-family corpus.
Annual filing trend
Filings climbed from 461 in 2017 to a peak of 770 in 2020, then eased to the 527–680 range through 2023–2024. The 2025 and 2026 totals are materially under-counted due to publication lag and should not be read as a continuation of the post-peak decline. The multi-year window still reflects a substantially larger base than the 2017 starting point.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B33Y (additive manufacturing / 3D printing) is the dominant IPC branch, followed by B22F (powder metallurgy) and B29C (shaping of plastics). B23K (welding, soldering, and brazing) sits as the fourth branch and is notably sparser relative to the three leaders, marking it as an adjacent area with room for differentiation. Dental (A61C) and process-control (G05B) branches are present but represent smaller shares, suggesting selective rather than systematic coverage in those directions.
↗ 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.
Ablative support material for directed energy depo…
An ablative support material for providing support to a primary material during a directed energy deposition (DED) process includes an ablative filler including a melting point that is at least about ten percent higher than a melting point of the primary material. The ablative support material is configured to provide mechanical support to the ablative… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Direct fabrication of orthodontic appliances with … | 355 |
| 2 | Method of using a powered stapling device | 337 |
| 3 | Additive manufacturing of composite materials | 285 |
| 4 | Methods and Systems for Coherent Imaging and Feedb… | 227 |
| 5 | Dental appliance having ornamental design | 210 |
| 6 | Method and Apparatus for Additive Manufacturing Us… | 151 |
| 7 | Material processing methods and related apparatus | 143 |
| 8 | Direct fabrication of power arms | 139 |
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 structure means for R&D investment
Four structural observations — lifecycle stage, competitive concentration, collaboration patterns, and geographic spread — frame where the highest-risk and highest-return R&D bets lie.
Post-peak field with a large established base
The lifecycle evidence indicates the field is in a decline stage, with annual filings easing back from the 2020 peak of 770. The multi-year corpus of 5,321 patent families reflects a mature foundation. Teams entering now face a dense prior-art landscape in core deposition processes but may find differentiation in under-covered application domains and process-control integration.
Post-peak · est. 2020Moderate top-tier concentration with an open mid-tier
The top five filers account for 29% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — concentrated enough to signal established incumbents, but not so dominant that smaller players cannot build meaningful positions. The gap between rank three (DMG Mori, 204 patent families) and rank four (Boeing, 136) is the sharpest break in the ranking, creating a visible leadership tier of three. The remaining seventeen players in the top twenty are more evenly spaced, leaving room for targeted portfolio building.
Top-5 share: 29%Intra-group and university ties dominate co-filing activity
The most active co-filing pair is Rolls-Royce Corp and Rolls-Royce Ltd with 22 joint filings, reflecting consolidated group IP strategy rather than an external partnership. DMG Mori co-files with Advanced Manufacturing Systems Research (12 filings) and Kyoto University (10 filings), signaling an academic-industrial R&D bridge in precision hybrid manufacturing. Align Technology and Cubicure GmbH (6 filings) represent a dental-materials partnership. Proterial and A*STAR (3 filings) and Siemens Energy entities (3 filings) round out the collaboration map, all at modest scale.
10 active co-filer pairsUS-centric with meaningful European and PCT reach
The United States is the primary filing jurisdiction by a wide margin, followed by Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT). Japan ranks fourth, consistent with the presence of DMG Mori, Nikon, and Proterial in the top-ten applicants. China’s filing count is notably lower than Japan’s, suggesting either limited Chinese-originating innovation in this field or a strategic decision by incumbents not to file there extensively. Canada and India represent secondary markets with smaller but non-trivial coverage.
Lead office: United StatesGo 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.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Rolls-Royce Corp | Rolls-Royce Ltd | 22 |
| DMG Mori Co Ltd | Advanced Manufacturing Systems Research LLC | 12 |
| DMG Mori Co Ltd | Kyoto University | 10 |
| Align Technology Inc | Cubicure GmbH | 6 |
| Proterial Ltd | Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) | 3 |
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | Siemens AG | 3 |
| Nikon Corporation | Fujikin Incorporated | 2 |
| Alcoa Inc | Howmet Aerospace Inc | 2 |
| Rolls-Royce Corp | Penn State Research Foundation | 2 |
| Rolls-Royce Corp | ROLLS ROYCE HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPOSITES INC | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Align Technology and General Electric lead divergent strategic routes
The two largest portfolios reflect fundamentally different sector focuses — dental precision manufacturing versus broad industrial additive processes — while momentum trends show Align accelerating and GE retreating.
Align Technology Inc
Align Technology holds 353 patent families — the largest portfolio in this corpus — concentrated in dental and oral hygiene (A61C), additive manufacturing outputs (B33Y80), and plastics shaping (B29C). Its momentum is strongly positive at +106% in recent filings versus the prior period, making it the only top-two player actively expanding its position. The dental orthodontics axis gives Align a highly specialized and defensible niche within the broader DED landscape.
families: 353General Electric Co
General Electric holds 323 patent families spread across core additive manufacturing process classes (B33Y10, B33Y50) and plastics shaping (B29C). Its recent filing momentum has declined sharply at –68% versus the prior three-year period, suggesting a strategic pullback or portfolio consolidation rather than continued build-out. GE’s breadth across process and output classes still makes it the most horizontally positioned player in the ranking, even as filing pace has eased.
families: 323| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| General Electric Company | 44 | ▼ -68% |
| Align Technology Inc | 179 | ▲ +106% |
| DMG Mori Co Ltd | 25 | ▼ -69% |
| The Boeing Company | 23 | ▼ -69% |
| Nikon Corporation | 60 | ▲ 3.8× vs prior 3-yr |
| Divergent Technologies Inc | 68 | ▲ +66% |
| Proterial Ltd | 43 | ▼ -43% |
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | 28 | ▼ -59% |
Under-served routes adjacent to the dominant additive-manufacturing core
Two IPC branches sit at the lower-share edge of the DED corpus and combine relative sparsity with plausible technical relevance and a realistic entry path for teams differentiating from the crowded B33Y core.
G05B · Control & regulating systems
G05B holds 254 patent records — roughly 1% of the IPC distribution — despite process-control being a well-recognized technical bottleneck in directed energy deposition (thermal history management, in-situ monitoring, closed-loop feedback). The sparsity relative to the dominant B33Y and B22F branches suggests that most filers are claiming the deposition process itself rather than the control architecture around it. Teams with expertise in real-time sensing, model-based control, or digital-twin integration have a realistic path to filing differentiated control-system claims with relatively limited prior-art density.
Search this in Eureka →C23C · Coating & surface deposition
C23C appears in 131 patent records, placing it among the lower-share branches despite the fact that DED processes are mechanistically related to thermal spray and vapor-phase coating techniques. The overlap between laser-directed energy deposition and advanced coating repair — a critical application in aerospace turbine maintenance — is commercially significant but patent-sparse in this branch. Applicants focused on repair-and-overhaul workflows, functionally graded coatings, or dissimilar-material interfaces may find C23C a relatively open filing lane adjacent to the more crowded B23K welding branch.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | B33Y 10 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B29C 64 · Shaping of plastics | B22F 10 · Powder metallurgy | B33Y 80 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B33Y 30 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Electric Company | Strong · 235 | Strong · 194 | Moderate · 111 | Moderate · 106 | Strong · 162 |
| Align Technology Inc | Strong · 149 | Strong · 151 | Absent | Strong · 232 | Moderate · 55 |
| The Boeing Company | Strong · 82 | Strong · 65 | Strong · 42 | Strong · 48 | Strong · 59 |
| Nikon Corporation | Strong · 89 | Strong · 46 | Moderate · 44 | Absent | Strong · 84 |
| Proterial Ltd | Strong · 67 | Absent | Strong · 83 | Strong · 60 | Absent |
| Divergent Technologies Inc | Absent | Strong · 44 | Strong · 72 | Strong · 52 | Strong · 40 |
| DMG Mori Co Ltd | Absent | Moderate · 44 | Moderate · 41 | Absent | Strong · 115 |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 5,321 patent families in scope globally. The United States is the primary filing jurisdiction, accounting for the largest share of patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT) filings.
Align Technology Inc holds the largest portfolio with 353 patent families, followed by General Electric Co at 323 and DMG Mori Co Ltd at 204. These three form a distinct leading tier separated from the next cluster by a visible gap.
Annual filings peaked in 2020 at 770 and have eased since. The multi-year corpus reflects a substantially larger base than the 2017 starting point of 461 filings, but the lifecycle evidence indicates the field is past its peak. The most recent years (2025–2026) are under-counted due to publication lag.
B33Y (additive manufacturing / 3D printing) is the dominant branch, followed by B22F (powder metallurgy) and B29C (shaping of plastics). B23K (welding, soldering, and brazing) is the fourth branch and considerably sparser relative to the top three.
Among the top applicants tracked by momentum, Align Technology shows the strongest growth at +106% in recent filings versus the prior period. Divergent Technologies is up +66% and Nikon Corp has grown at 3.8 times its prior three-year rate. In contrast, General Electric, DMG Mori, and Boeing have each declined roughly 68–69% in recent filing pace.
The most active co-filing pair is Rolls-Royce Corp and Rolls-Royce Ltd with 22 joint filings, representing intra-group coordination. DMG Mori co-files with both an advanced manufacturing research affiliate (12 filings) and Kyoto University (10 filings), the most prominent academic collaboration in the dataset. Other notable pairs include Align Technology with Cubicure GmbH (6 filings) in dental materials, and Proterial with A*STAR (3 filings).
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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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