HEA Simulation & Modeling Patent Landscape 2026
The HEA simulation and modeling field is in a growth phase, with annual filings rising sharply over the multi-year window and a single industrial filer, Proterial Ltd, holding a clear lead over a predominantly academic second tier. China dominates jurisdiction coverage while computational chemistry and alloy design co-anchor the technology mix.
Proterial Ltd leads a fragmented, academically dominated field
Proterial Ltd sits at the top of the applicant ranking with 11 patent records, more than double the next-ranked filer, making it the only clearly industrial leader in a field otherwise dominated by universities and research institutes.
The top five filers account for 27% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, signaling moderate concentration at the top but a long, distributed tail of single- and dual-record contributors — mostly Chinese and Korean academic institutions.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proterial Ltd | 11 | |
| 2 | POSTECH Academy-Industry Foundation | 5 | |
| 3 | THE IND & ACADEMIC COOP IN CHUNGNAM NAT UNIV (IAC) | 4 | |
| 4 | Nuclear Power Institute of China | 4 | |
| 5 | Harbin Institute of Technology | 3 | |
| 6 | Hunan University | 3 | |
| 7 | Central South University | 3 | |
| 8 | Guizhou University | 3 | |
| 9 | UNIV OF SCI & TECH BEIJING | 2 | |
| 10 | Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Northeast Electric Power University | 2 | |
| 12 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 2 | |
| 13 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 2 | |
| 14 | Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research | 2 | |
| 15 | Shanghai University | 2 | |
| 16 | Beijing Institute of Technology | 2 | |
| 17 | Jiangsu Ocean University | 2 | |
| 18 | NORTH CHINA UNIV OF WATER RESOURCES & ELECTRIC POWER | 2 | |
| 19 | City University of Hong Kong | 2 | |
| 20 | Zhejiang Weixiang Materials Technology Co., Ltd. | 2 |
Proterial’s position implies a commercially oriented push toward translating simulation outputs into manufacturable alloy structures, while the academic majority signals that foundational computational methods remain actively contested and under-published.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are likely under-counted due to standard patent publication lag; current totals should be treated as a floor, not a ceiling. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Rapid growth since 2022 with computational chemistry and alloy design co-dominating
The filing trend reveals a field that was essentially dormant before 2021 and has since accelerated sharply; the technology composition chart shows that simulation activity straddles both materials science and digital methods classes.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings were low and irregular from 2017 through 2021, then surged from 2022 onward, reaching a visible peak in the recorded data. The 2025 and 2026 bars are understated due to publication lag and should not be read as a plateau or decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C22C (Alloys) and G16C (Computational chemistry) together account for the largest shares of patent records, flanked by G06F (Electric digital data processing) and B22F (Powder metallurgy), confirming that the field bridges classical metallurgy and computational methods. G06N (AI models) is a smaller but fast-growing branch, reflecting the adoption of machine learning for alloy property prediction.
↗ 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.
Efficient High-Entropy Alloys Design Method Includ…
Embodiments relate to a system for predicting thermodynamic phase of a material. The system includes a phase diagram image scanning processing module configured to scan a binary phase diagram for each material to be used as a component of a high-entropy alloy (HEA). The system includes a feature computation processing module configured to generate a primary… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | High entropy alloy having TWIP/trip property and m… | 66 |
| 2 | Alloy structure | 46 |
| 3 | High-entropy alloy for ultra-low temperature | 42 |
| 4 | Alloy structure | 40 |
| 5 | High entropy alloy having TWIP/TRIP property and m… | 34 |
| 6 | Cr—Fe—Mn—Ni—V-based high-entropy alloy | 31 |
| 7 | Manufacturing method of alloy structure | 26 |
| 8 | Efficient High-Entropy Alloys Design Method Includ… | 22 |
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 competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of strong growth, academic concentration, and a single industrial frontrunner creates a distinct set of strategic signals for teams evaluating entry or expansion in this space.
Growth stage with annual filings still rising
The lifecycle evidence classifies this field as Growth, with annual filings still rising and the multi-year window showing a 600% increase. The field has not yet reached the crowded, incremental stage typical of mature IP landscapes, meaning early positional filing still carries meaningful value. Recent-year undercounting amplifies this — the true trajectory is likely steeper than the recorded numbers show.
Growth stageSingle industrial leader; open space across the second tier
Proterial Ltd’s lead is clear but the second tier — ranging from 5 down to 2 patent records per applicant — is occupied almost entirely by universities, leaving commercial territory largely uncontested below the top rank. A well-resourced industrial entrant could plausibly reach the top three within two to three filing cycles. The 27% top-five share of the hundred largest filers confirms room for a challenger to establish a differentiated position.
Moderate concentrationEarly-stage co-filing between Korean and Chinese institutions
The most active co-filing pair is POSTECH Academy-Industry Foundation and the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Chungnam National University, with two joint records. Harbin Institute of Technology and Harbin Institute of Technology Chongqing Research Institute, and Central South University with AVIC Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, each share one joint record. Collaboration activity is limited and largely intra-national, suggesting cross-border or industry-academia partnerships remain an underdeveloped ecosystem lever.
Limited collaborationChina-dominant filing; US and Japan hold meaningful secondary positions
China accounts for the largest share of jurisdictional filings, reflecting the heavy weight of Chinese academic institutions in the applicant base. The United States and Japan hold secondary positions, with India and South Korea contributing smaller but non-trivial counts, and a single PCT filing indicating limited global prosecution strategy so far. Teams seeking broad commercial protection should note that international filing activity is sparse relative to the corpus size.
China-led, JP/US secondaryGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| POSTECH Academy-Industry Foundation | Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Chungnam National University | 2 |
| Harbin Institute of Technology | Harbin Institute of Technology Chongqing Research Institute | 1 |
| Central South University | AVIC Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Proterial Ltd anchors the industrial tier; Korean and Chinese institutions lead the academic tier
Two distinct archetypes define the leaderboard: a single industrial filer with a manufacturing-process emphasis and a cluster of research institutions concentrated on alloy composition and computational methods.
Proterial Ltd
Proterial Ltd holds 11 patent records, the highest count in the corpus, with a technology focus concentrated in B22F powder metallurgy and C22C alloy design — indicating that its simulation work is closely tied to powder-based manufacturing processes. Proterial Ltd appears in the route matrix as the dominant industrial route holder; momentum data for this applicant is not disaggregated in the evidence but its accumulated position is substantial relative to all other filers.
11 patent recordsPOSTECH Academy-Industry Foundation
POSTECH Academy-Industry Foundation holds 5 patent records, the second-highest count, with a technology emphasis firmly in C22C alloy composition classes. It is the most active co-filer in the corpus, collaborating with Chungnam National University’s Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation on 2 joint records. Nuclear Power Institute of China and the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Chungnam National University each hold 4 patent records and are flagged as new entrants in the momentum data, as are Central South University, Guizhou University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research.
5 patent records| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Power Institute of China | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Guizhou University | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Harbin Institute of Technology | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Central South University | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
Additive manufacturing, coating deposition, and casting remain under-served adjacent branches
Several IPC branches that are technically adjacent to the dominant simulation and alloy-design classes carry low record counts, making them worth monitoring as potential areas where simulation methods have not yet been systematically applied.
B33Y · Additive manufacturing (3D printing)
B33Y holds only 2 patent records, representing roughly 1% of the IPC branch distribution. Additive manufacturing is a natural downstream application for HEA design — simulation outputs that optimize composition and microstructure are directly actionable in 3D printing process planning — yet the patent evidence suggests this coupling is barely explored. Teams with existing AM process IP could find a low-competition entry path by extending simulation frameworks to cover layer-by-layer solidification and residual stress prediction.
Search this in Eureka →C23C · Coating & surface deposition
C23C carries only 2 patent records, representing roughly 1% of the branch distribution. HEA coatings are an active research area in wear, corrosion, and high-temperature protection, yet simulation-guided coating design — covering diffusion, adhesion, and phase stability at interfaces — appears sparsely patented. The realistic entry path involves coupling existing CALPHAD or molecular dynamics frameworks to coating deposition process parameters, an extension that several academic groups active in C22C and G16C are positioned to make.
Search this in Eureka →How leading filers diverge across simulation and manufacturing routes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | C22C 30 · Alloys | G16C 60 · Computational chemistry | C22C 1 · Alloys | G06F 30 · Electric digital data processing | G16C 20 · Computational chemistry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proterial Ltd | Strong · 11 | Absent | Moderate · 5 | Absent | Absent |
| POSTECH Academy-Industry Foundation | Strong · 4 | Absent | Strong · 3 | Absent | Absent |
| Central South University | Strong · 3 | Moderate · 1 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Moderate · 1 |
| Nuclear Power Institute of China | Absent | Strong · 3 | Absent | Strong · 3 | Moderate · 1 |
| Guizhou University | Absent | Strong · 3 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 2 |
| Hunan University | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 3 | Strong · 2 |
| Seoul National University R&DB Foundation | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The evidence covers 74 patent families in scope, reflecting global filings across the topic from 2017 through mid-2026. The most recent 18–24 months are under-counted due to publication lag, so the true total is higher.
Proterial Ltd leads with 11 patent records, more than double the next-ranked applicant. It is the only clearly industrial entity at the top of the ranking; all other top filers are universities or research institutes.
China accounts for the largest number of jurisdictional filings, followed by the United States and Japan. India and South Korea contribute smaller counts, and a single PCT filing indicates limited international prosecution strategy to date.
C22C (Alloys) and G16C (Computational chemistry) carry the highest record counts, followed by G06F (Electric digital data processing) and B22F (Powder metallurgy). G06N (AI/machine learning models) is a smaller but growing branch.
The lifecycle evidence classifies HEA simulation and modeling as a Growth-stage field. Annual filings are still rising and the multi-year window shows a 600% increase. The field has not transitioned to the incremental, densely contested stage typical of mature IP landscapes.
B33Y (Additive manufacturing) and C23C (Coating and surface deposition) each carry only 2 patent records, making them the sparsest technically adjacent branches. B22D (Metal casting) and G01N (Material analysis and testing) each hold 3 records, also relatively sparse given the potential to apply simulation methods in those process domains.
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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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