Heat Treatment of Large Forgings Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
Heat Treatment of Large Forgings: Patents Behind Quench Control and Distortion Management
Concentrated at the top. The leading assignee alone accounts for 42 of 280 records, and the top 5 combined hold 46.8% of all 280 records in scope. Filings peaked at 24 records in 2017. The complete-year comparison the dataset supports, 2021 (4 records) to 2024 (2 records), shows a 50% decline over that three-year span.
- 1MAGNA LASTIC DEVICES INC42
- 2NISSHIN STEEL CO LTD26
- 3OUTOKUMPU OY24
- 4NSK LTD21
- 5AB SKF SKF PATENT DEPARTMENT18
See the full heat treatment of large forgings analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on this landscape
Who holds the most patents in heat treatment of large forgings?
One assignee leads the ranked list with 42 of the 280 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 18 records and the tenth-place holder at 7. The top 5 assignees combined hold 46.8% of all 280 records, and the top 10 combined hold 66.1%. Below that, activity spreads thinly across a long tail of the 61 companies that appear in the ranking, many with only one or two filings.
Is patent filing in this field growing or slowing down?
Filing peaked in 2017 at 24 records and has stepped down since. Comparing the two most recent complete years the dataset supports, filings fell from 4 in 2021 to 2 in 2024, a 50% decline over that span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a further drop.
What technology areas overlap most with heat treatment of large forgings?
Alloy composition claims (IPC class C22C) appear alongside heat-treatment process claims (C21D) in a large share of the 280 records, at 42.9% and 47.9% respectively, meaning most filings pair a specific alloy with a specific process rather than claiming either alone. Force and pressure measurement (G01L, 21.4%) and shafts, bearings and couplings (F16C, 17.5%) point to torque and stress sensing on bearing or shaft components as the dominant application. Coating (C23C) and gearing (F16H) are present but much smaller, at 10.0% and 6.4%.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Heat Treatment of Large Forgings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.