HEA Compositional & CALPHAD Optimization Patent Snapshot
The patent corpus for HEA compositional design and CALPHAD optimization is nascent, comprising only 7 patent families concentrated almost entirely in academic and university-affiliated filers, with China as the dominant filing jurisdiction. Activity peaked briefly in 2018 and has been sporadic since, signaling an early-stage, lightly contested field where academic IP predominates and commercial coverage remains thin.
City University of Hong Kong and Zhuzhou Jinwei lead a highly concentrated, university-dominated field
With only 7 patent families in scope, this technology domain is at a very early stage of IP formation. City University of Hong Kong and Zhuzhou Jinwei Hard Alloy Co. Ltd. each hold 2 patent families, placing them jointly at the top of the ranking, followed by Northeast Dianli University, Tianjin University of Technology, and Xinjiang University, each with 1 family.
The top five filers account for 100% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total — an extreme concentration that reflects both the immaturity of the field and its academic character. There is no discernible tier gap between the leader and the rest; the ranking is essentially flat beyond the top two.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City University of Hong Kong | 2 | |
| 2 | Zhuzhou Jinwei Hard Alloy Co. Ltd. | 2 | |
| 3 | Northeast Dianli University | 1 | |
| 4 | Tianjin University of Technology | 1 | |
| 5 | Xinjiang University | 1 |
The dominance of universities and one materials-processing company suggests that foundational, process-oriented IP is being generated in academic settings, while industrial application of CALPHAD-guided HEA design has yet to attract broad corporate patent activity. This creates an open window for industrial players to establish early IP positions.
The most recent one to two filing years are likely under-represented due to standard publication lag; the apparent absence of 2026 filings should not be read as a cessation of activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2018 filing spike followed by years of silence, with tentative re-emergence since 2023
The filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal an episodic, academically driven field: a single burst of activity in 2018 gave way to a multi-year gap before isolated filings resumed in 2023–2025. The IPC class mix confirms that alloy composition and powder metallurgy are visible in, while computational chemistry remains a minor but meaningful branch.
Annual filing trend
Four of the 7 patent families were filed in 2018, accounting for the corpus’s only meaningful cluster of annual activity. Filings then fell to zero for four consecutive years before single filings appeared in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The 2025 and 2026 data points are subject to publication lag and likely undercount actual activity; the tentative post-2022 re-emergence should be monitored rather than concluded upon.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C22C (Alloys) is the visible IPC class with 6 patent records, followed closely by B22F (Powder metallurgy) with 5. G16C (Computational chemistry) appears in 2 records, confirming that CALPHAD-linked computational framing is present but not yet the primary claim anchor. C22F (Non-ferrous metal treatment) and G06V (Image/video recognition) each appear in just 1 record, marking them as sparse adjacent branches.
↗ 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 the fabrication of architected 3D high …
A method for the fabrication of architected 3D high entropy alloy structures includes deriving a 3D architecture based on at least one physical property of a high entropy alloy; preparing a fabrication powder including a mixture of two or more metallic powders of nearly equal quantities; arranging a first layer of the fabrication powder on a platform… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Method for the fabrication of architected 3D high … | 13 |
| 2 | 一种保径环及其制备方法和应用 | 10 |
| 3 | 一种高耐蚀高强韧的双相高熵合金材料的热轧工艺设计优化方法 | 1 |
| 4 | Method for the fabrication of architected 3D high … | 1 |
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.
City University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong holds 2 patent families, focused on B22F powder metallurgy (both B22F 1 and B22F 3 sub-classes) and C22C 1 alloy composition — a process-plus-composition pairing characteristic of additive-manufacturing-oriented HEA research. No momentum data is available for this filer in the recent-vs-prior window, suggesting its filing activity predates the recent re-emergence period. Its position as the only non-mainland China academic leader gives it distinct international visibility.
families: 2Tianjin University of Technology
Tianjin University of Technology holds 1 patent family, concentrated in B22F 9 (powder preparation), C22C 26 (diamond-related alloys), and C22C 30 (alloys of other metals) — a niche materials-processing profile distinct from the leaders. Its applicant momentum is flagged as a new entrant in the most recent filing window, indicating it entered this specific IP domain only recently. This entry, alongside Northeast Dianli University’s parallel new-entrant status, suggests growing interest from second-tier Chinese technical universities.
families: 1Frequently asked questions
The current corpus contains 7 patent families in scope. This is a very small corpus, consistent with an early-formation technology field where academic groups are generating the first dedicated IP and commercial filers have not yet entered in force.
City University of Hong Kong and Zhuzhou Jinwei Hard Alloy Co. Ltd. each hold 2 patent families, placing them jointly at the top. Northeast Dianli University, Tianjin University of Technology, and Xinjiang University each hold 1 family. The field is dominated by Chinese academic institutions, with City University of Hong Kong as the only filer based outside mainland China.
Five patent records are filed in China and two in the United States. No filings are documented in Europe, Japan, Korea, or other major manufacturing jurisdictions, leaving those regions as geographic white space for organizations targeting HEA applications in those markets.
Four of the 7 families were filed in 2018, followed by a four-year gap with no recorded filings. Single filings appear in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The 2025 and 2026 data are subject to publication lag. The field cannot be characterized as consistently growing; it is better described as episodic, with a tentative re-emergence after 2022 that warrants monitoring.
C22C (Alloys) leads with 6 patent records, followed by B22F (Powder metallurgy) with 5. G16C (Computational chemistry) appears in 2 records, confirming a CALPHAD presence but not dominance. C22F (Non-ferrous metal treatment) and G06V (Image/video recognition) each appear in just 1 record, marking them as the sparsest adjacent branches relative to the corpus total.
No co-applicant or collaborative filings were identified in the corpus. All patents appear to be single-institution filings. This absence of collaboration means there are no established IP-sharing structures to navigate, and an organization seeking to partner with one of the leading academic filers would be entering uncharted but relatively open territory.
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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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