High-Entropy Alloy Phase Design Patents: Who Leads, Gaps 2026
- 37.3% of all 67 records sit with the top five assignees, with a long tail of single- and double-filing entrants behind them.
- Filings rose 60% from 2021 (5) to 2024 (8), the most recent year with a largely complete publication record.
- C22C alloy composition covers 67.2% of records, while heat treatment, catalysis and implant applications each sit in single digits — the clearest white space in the field.
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 records) with 2024 (8) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 67 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
High-entropy alloys and multi-principal-element alloys are defined by having several elements in near-equal proportion rather than one dominant base metal, which changes how phases form and how mechanical properties develop. This landscape tracks patent filings claiming phase stability, solid solution strengthening, lattice distortion, CALPHAD prediction, sluggish diffusion and eutectic microstructure control across composition, processing and application claims.
The 67 records in scope run from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, filed through receiving offices led by India and the United States, with smaller volumes through the EPO, WIPO, South Korea and Canada. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent filing years understate actual activity.
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Filing trends and technology composition
The dataset covers 67 published records from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, spanning alloy composition, powder processing, coatings, heat treatment and downstream applications such as implants.
Filing activity: a 2018 peak, then a rebuilding phase
Filings ran from 3 in 2017 to a peak of 12 in 2018, before settling into a steadier band. Between 2021 (5) and 2024 (8) — the most recent year that can be treated as complete, since publication lags filing by roughly 18 months — filings rose 60%. 2025 and 2026 figures will fill in as later-filed applications publish.
Where the claims sit: alloy composition dominates
C22C (alloys) covers 67.2% of the 67 records, more than double the next largest class, B22F (powder metallurgy) at 29.9%. Coating (C23C), additive manufacturing (B33Y), heat treatment (C21D) and application-specific classes like implants (A61F) each cover a single-digit-to-low-teens share, marking the thinner, less-claimed branches of the field.
Shares are the percentage of the 67 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on High-Entropy Alloy Phase Design with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about high-entropy alloy phase design and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this landscape
High entropy alloy structure and a method of preparing the same
A method for preparing a high entropy alloy (HEA) structure includes the steps of: preparing an alloy by arc melting raw materials comprising five or more elements; drop casting the melted alloy into a cooled mold to form a bulk alloy with eutectic microstructure therein; and subjecting the bulk alloy to an acidic condition to form a bulk porous structure with eutectic microstructure therein. A high entropy alloy structure is also provided as prepared by the method.Filed by City University of Hong Kong, 2020-05-21 · US20200157663A1 · 58 citations
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170314097A1 | High-strength and ultra heat-resistant high entropy alloy (HEA) matrix composites and method of preparing the… | 307 |
| 2 | US20190024198A1 | Precipitation Hardening High Entropy Alloy and Method of Manufacturing the Same | 131 |
| 3 | US20200157663A1 | High entropy alloy structure and a method of prepating the same | 58 |
| 4 | US20190226058A1 | Alloy member, process for producing said alloy member, and product including said alloy member | 53 |
| 5 | US20200308683A1 | Precipitation Strengthening AlCrFeNiV System High Entropy Alloy and Manufacturing Method Thereof | 49 |
| 6 | US20170232155A1 | Thermo-mechanical processing of high entropy alloys for biomedical applications | 36 |
| 7 | KR1020160126702A | High strength tungsten alloy with low activation and manufacturing method for the same | 20 |
| 8 | KR1020150073270A | Rare earth element based high entropy bulk metallic glass | 15 |
| 9 | IN201931008558A | Refractory metal based multi-component alloy for articulating surfaces in total joint arthroplasty | 11 |
| 10 | WO2020234484A1 | PVD coatings comprising multi-anion high entropy alloy oxy-nitrides | 10 |
Citation counts favour older filings within this searched corpus and should be read as a signal of influence, not of current commercial importance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing data signals
Three patterns stand out once the 67 records are broken down by assignee, technology class and citation weight: moderate concentration at the top, a rebuilding filing trend after a 2018 peak, and a technology mix still anchored in composition claims rather than downstream processing.
Filing sits with a handful of organisations, not one
The leading assignee holds 9 records; the tenth-ranked holds 2. Combined, the top ten account for 56.7% of the 67 records in scope, leaving roughly 43% spread across a long tail of smaller filers, including several with a single family.
Growth resumed after the 2018 peak
Filings hit an early peak of 12 in 2018, then eased before climbing again: 5 in 2021 to 8 in 2024. That three-year, 60% rise is the most recent complete-year comparison available given typical 18-month publication lag.
Composition claims dominate over process and application
C22C alloy-composition claims cover more than two-thirds of the 67 records, well ahead of powder metallurgy (29.9%) and far ahead of heat treatment, coatings, additive manufacturing and implant-specific claims, all in single or low-double digits.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to high-entropy alloy phase design, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
Filing is led by a mix of industrial materials firms, national research organisations and universities, with concentration moderate enough that no single entity controls the field. Momentum data shows several established filers with no activity in the latest year, consistent with the broader publication lag rather than an actual pullback.
A single leader, not a runaway one
The top-ranked assignee holds 9 of the 67 records in scope. That is a meaningful lead over the field but well short of dominating it, leaving room for competitors to build comparable portfolios.
A wide base of smaller filers
The ranking returned by the data endpoint covers 50 assignees, most holding only one or two families. This spread suggests the field is still open to new entrants building focused portfolios in specific alloy systems or processes.
Co-filing is limited but present
Only 4 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, the strongest tied to a national research foundation working with individual named inventors. Most records are filed by a single assignee rather than through formal joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Proterial, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Oerlikon Surface Solutions AG, Pfäffikon | 0 | — |
| Ohio State Innovation Foundation | 0 | -100% |
| City University of Hong Kong | 0 | — |
| National Research Council of Canada | 0 | — |
| Georgetown University | 0 | — |
| Seoul National University R&DB Foundation | 0 | — |
| NAT INST OF TECH WARANGAL | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this next
The public filing data shows where claim density sits and where it thins out. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision requires drilling into specific claims and specific assignees.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on a specific alloy system
IPC-level shares show where composition claims are dense, but only a claim-by-claim read of the leading records will confirm whether a specific element combination or process step is actually blocked.
Check claim scope in EurekaTrack the assignees with renewed filing activity
Momentum figures show several established filers quiet in the latest year, likely a publication-lag effect. Monitoring their pipeline over the next few publication cycles will clarify who is actually still active.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaBuild a first claim in an under-claimed branch
Heat treatment, catalytic and implant-specific applications carry the lowest IPC shares in this dataset. Drafting around a specific process-plus-outcome claim in one of these branches faces less prior art than a composition-only claim.
Draft and search claims in EurekaFrequently asked questions
In this dataset, phase design covers filings that claim control over which crystal phase — solid solution, eutectic, or precipitate — forms in a multi-principal-element alloy, along with the composition or process used to get there. Most of these records sit in IPC class C22C (alloys), which covers 67.2% of the 67 records in scope. A smaller but significant share extends into powder metallurgy (B22F, 29.9%) and heat treatment (C21D, 6.0%), reflecting that phase outcome is controlled as much by processing as by composition. Practically, this means a freedom-to-operate search in this space has to look past composition claims into process claims covering melting, quenching and annealing steps.
The ranked leaders in this dataset span industrial materials firms, national research bodies and universities across several countries, with the leading assignee holding 9 of the 67 records and the fifth-ranked holding 3. Filing is moderately concentrated: the top five assignees together account for 37.3% of all 67 records, rising to 56.7% among the top ten. That leaves a long tail of single- or double-filing entrants, which is typical for a field still anchored in academic and applied-research output rather than dominated by a small number of large industrial portfolios.
Filings peaked at 12 in 2018 and have not returned to that level since, but the trend is not simply declining. Using 2021 (5) to 2024 (8) — the most recent year with a largely complete publication record — filings grew 60% over that three-year span. Figures for 2025 and 2026 will look lower in the data purely because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; they should not be read as a slowdown until later filings catch up in the record.
US20200157663A1, assigned to City University of Hong Kong and filed 2020-05-21, claims a specific process: arc-melting a five-or-more-element alloy, drop-casting it into a cooled mould to form a bulk alloy with eutectic microstructure, then acid-treating that bulk alloy to create a porous structure that retains the eutectic microstructure. It is the third most-cited record in this dataset at 58 citations. It blocks that specific process-and-structure combination, not the underlying alloy chemistry — work using a different solidification method or a different porosity-generation step is likely to sit outside its literal scope, though a full claim chart is needed to confirm freedom to operate for any specific product.
The thinner branches by IPC share are heat treatment (C21D, 6.0% of the 67 records), catalytic or chemical-process applications (B01J, 7.5%) and implant or prosthesis use (A61F, 4.5%) — all well behind the dominant alloy-composition class (C22C, 67.2%). These branches show the base chemistry space is heavily claimed while specific downstream processing recipes and application-specific formulations are not. A first claim tying a defined heat-treatment schedule or a biocompatible composition to a measurable phase or property outcome, rather than claiming composition alone, is more likely to clear prior art in these areas.
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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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.