HEA Mechanical & Microstructure Testing Patent Snapshot
The HEA mechanical and microstructure testing patent space is a small but growing field in its Growth stage, with 15 patent families distributed across more than a dozen applicants and no single filer holding a dominant share. Annual filings are still rising, and a wave of new entrants — including Xiamen Tungsten, Xiamen Golden Egret, and Oerlikon AM Europe — signals broadening industrial interest beyond academic origins.
Fragmented field with no runaway leader — top five share the majority among the largest filers
H C Starck Inc, Suzhou University, Xiamen Golden Egret Special Alloy, and Xiamen Tungsten Co Ltd each hold 2 patent families and jointly occupy the top tier. No applicant has pulled away from the pack, making this an unusually flat visible assignee structure for an early-stage technical field.
The top five filers together account for 53% of the combined total across the ranked applicants visible in this query — a moderate concentration level that reflects the field’s nascency rather than deliberate market control. A second tier of single-family filers (Jilin University, Zhejiang University, Oerlikon AM Europe, and others) is large relative to the top tier, reinforcing the fragmented picture.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | H C Starck Inc | 2 | |
| 2 | Suzhou University | 2 | |
| 3 | Xiamen Golden Egret Special Alloy Co Ltd | 2 | |
| 4 | Xiamen Tungsten Co Ltd | 2 | |
| 5 | UNIV OF SCI & TECH BEIJING | 1 | |
| 6 | Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | 1 | |
| 7 | Jilin University | 1 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zhejiang University | 1 | |
| 9 | HC Starck Solutions Coldwater LLC | 1 | |
| 10 | Oerlikon AM Europe GmbH | 1 | |
| 11 | SECRETARY DEFENCE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ORGANISAT… | 1 | |
| 12 | National Institute of Technology Warangal | 1 | |
| 13 | King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | 1 |
The near-parity among leaders means no incumbent has built a blocking position. Entrants with focused prosecution strategies in underrepresented process branches could establish differentiated positions quickly given the current low filing volumes.
Filings from approximately the last 18–24 months are likely under-counted due to standard patent publication lag; the apparent slowdown in 2023 and 2025–2026 data points should not be read as real demand decline. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Annual volume up 75% in the recent window; alloy composition dominates but process branches are gaining
Two charts together tell the story of an accelerating, process-diversifying field: the filing trend shows a 75% recent-window growth rate, while the technology composition chart reveals that C22C alloy patents are the plurality but additive manufacturing and powder metallurgy are closing the gap.
Annual filing trend
Filing volume rose from 2 families in 2017 to a visible 2024 peak of 4, with a 75% recent-window growth rate confirming the upward trajectory. The 2023 and 2025–2026 troughs reflect publication lag rather than a genuine retreat; readers should treat recent-period counts as floors, not ceilings.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C22C (Alloys) is the visible branch with 13 records, followed by B22F (Powder metallurgy) at 9 and B33Y (Additive manufacturing) at 7. The meaningful presence of B33Y and B22F alongside C22C signals that applicants are patenting not just alloy compositions but also the manufacturing routes used to realize them — a pattern consistent with industrialisation of HEA processing.
↗ 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.
High entropy alloy for bioimplant applications
A non-equiatomic high entropy alloy (HEA) includes titanium in an amount of 33 to 37 atomic percent, zirconium in an amount of 33 to 37 atomic percent, niobium in an amount of 18 to 22 atomic percent, tantalum in an amount of 3 to 7 atomic percent, and silver in an amount of 3 to 7 atomic percent, wherein atomic percent is based on the total atom count of… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FeCrCuTiV High-entropy Alloy Powder for Laser Melt… | 9 |
| 2 | High-entropy alloy for use as a base material in a… | 5 |
| 3 | Fabrication of high-entropy alloy wire and multi-p… | 3 |
| 4 | 揭示多相高熵合金的微纳米尺度界面机制的方法 | 3 |
| 5 | 一种高通量制备高熵合金的方法 | 2 |
| 6 | Fabrication of high-entropy alloy wire and multi-p… | 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.
H C Starck Inc
H C Starck Inc holds 2 patent families, with a related entity (H C Starck Place) concentrating on metal extrusion and drawing (B21C) and powder metallurgy (B22F) — manufacturing-process routes that complement alloy-composition claims. A further related entity, HC Starck Solutions Coldwater LLC, contributes 1 additional family. The H C Starck group’s emphasis on downstream processing differentiates it from the composition-focused academic filers.
families: 2Xiamen Tungsten Co Ltd
Xiamen Tungsten Co Ltd enters the ranking as a new entrant with 2 recent patent families, co-filed with Xiamen Golden Egret Special Alloy. Their shared focus spans powder metallurgy (B22F9), shaping of plastics (B29C33), and glass manufacture (C03B23) — an unusual combination that may reflect proprietary tooling or mold materials used in HEA fabrication. The new-entrant trajectory signals an intent to build a position rapidly.
families: 2Frequently asked questions
The current corpus contains 15 patent families in scope. This is a small field relative to broader HEA composition and processing areas, consistent with the specialised nature of mechanical and microstructure characterisation methods.
H C Starck Inc, Suzhou University, Xiamen Golden Egret Special Alloy, and Xiamen Tungsten Co Ltd are each tied with 2 patent families, making them the joint top-ranked filers. A second tier of 9 applicants each holds 1 patent family.
The lifecycle evidence classifies this as a Growth-stage field. Annual filings are still rising, supported by a 75% recent-window growth rate. The most recent 18–24 months of data are understated due to publication lag, so current counts likely understate real activity.
C22C (Alloys) leads with 13 records, followed by B22F (Powder metallurgy) at 9 and B33Y (Additive manufacturing) at 7. These three branches together account for the majority of the corpus, indicating that applicants are patenting both alloy compositions and the manufacturing routes used to produce them.
The United States is the lead filing office with 5 records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 4 and India at 3. China has 2 records despite Chinese entities being prominent applicants, suggesting a preference for international over domestic protection in this niche. WIPO (PCT) accounts for 1 record.
The only recorded co-filing relationship is between Xiamen Tungsten Co Ltd and Xiamen Golden Egret Special Alloy, which jointly filed 2 patent families. No other co-applicant pairs are recorded in the evidence, leaving the broader applicant ecosystem largely independent of one another.
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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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