Hybrid Manufacturing (DED+Machining) Patent Snapshot 2026
The Hybrid Manufacturing (DED+Machining) patent space is extremely nascent and highly concentrated, with a single commercial actor holding the dominant share of all tracked patent families. The field is still expanding on a multi-year basis following a surge in 2023, though annual volume has eased from that peak and the most recent filing years remain further understated by publication lag.
A highly concentrated emerging field dominated by one commercial filer
Relativity Space Inc holds the leading position in this space, ranking first among all tracked applicants. The remaining ranked applicants — UT Battelle LLC, University of Coimbra, the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System, and the University of Pittsburgh — each hold a single patent family, underscoring how lopsided the visible assignee structure currently is.
The top five filers account for the entirety of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, indicating a field where concentration is absolute at this stage of development. There is no meaningful second tier: Relativity Space’s count is four times that of any other applicant.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Relativity Space Inc | 4 | |
| 2 | UT Battelle LLC | 1 | |
| 3 | University of Coimbra | 1 | |
| 4 | Board of Regents, University of Texas System | 1 | |
| 5 | University of Pittsburgh | 1 |
Relativity Space’s visible position signals a deliberate, focused intellectual property strategy in aerospace-oriented DED+machining, while the university applicants suggest that foundational research contributions are still shaping the field rather than large industrial incumbents.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are likely understated due to standard patent publication lag and should not be interpreted as a slowdown in activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A field that surged in 2023 and is broadening its technology base
The annual filing trend reveals a field that was dormant until 2021 and then accelerated sharply through 2023, while the technology composition shows a strong anchor in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing with secondary coverage in welding and metalworking.
Annual filing trend
Filings were essentially absent from 2017 through 2020, with the first recorded activity appearing in 2021. The field reached its peak annual count in 2023. The 2024 and 2025 figures appear subdued but are likely understated by publication lag and should not be read as a contraction; the three-year recent window reflects 300% growth over the prior three-year window.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B22F (Powder metallurgy) and B33Y (Additive manufacturing / 3D printing) together form the visible technical backbone of this corpus. B23K (Welding, soldering and brazing) and B23P (Metal working general) represent secondary process-level coverage. Propulsion-related classes F02K and F23R, along with control systems class G05B, appear at low counts, pointing toward niche aerospace and automation applications.
↗ 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.
Hybrid manufacturing system
A hybrid manufacturing system includes a tool positioning system, a worktable for supporting a workpiece, a tool head coupled to the tool positioning system and movable relative to the worktable with the positioning system. A directed energy deposition (DED) tool is coupled to the tool head. A friction stir welding (FSW) tool is coupled to the tool head and… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Methods and apparatus for cognitive robotic additi… | 7 |
| 2 | Additively manufactured combustion chambers, manif… | 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.
Relativity Space Inc
Relativity Space Inc holds 4 patent families, the largest count among all tracked applicants. Their technology emphasis spans B22F (Powder metallurgy), B33Y (Additive manufacturing and 3D printing), with additional coverage in propulsion-related classes F02K and F23R — consistent with their commercial focus on 3D-printed rocket engines. Momentum data classifies them as a new entrant, meaning this IP position was built recently, and their trajectory suggests continued active filing in aerospace-oriented DED applications.
patent families: 4UT Battelle LLC
UT Battelle LLC (the management entity for Oak Ridge National Laboratory) holds 1 patent family, with technology emphasis in B22F (Powder metallurgy) and B23K (Welding, soldering and brazing). As a Department of Energy national laboratory contractor, UT Battelle’s presence signals government-backed research interest in DED process fundamentals. No momentum trend data beyond the single family is available in evidence.
patent families: 1Frequently asked questions
The current evidence corpus contains 9 patent families in scope. This reflects a very early-stage field where formal IP activity only began in 2021.
Relativity Space Inc is the leading applicant with 4 patent families, giving it four times the patent family count of any other single filer in the ranked list.
B22F (Powder metallurgy) and B33Y (Additive manufacturing / 3D printing) are the most represented IPC classes, each appearing in 7 patent records. B23K (Welding, soldering and brazing) and B23P (Metal working general) form a secondary tier.
Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT) each account for 3 patent records, followed by India with 2 and the United States with 1. The thin US count is notable given that the leading applicant, Relativity Space, is a US-headquartered company.
The field is classified as Growth: recent three-year filing volume is 300% above the prior three-year window. Annual filings peaked in 2023 and have eased since, but the multi-year trajectory remains expansionary. Publication lag also further suppresses the most recent annual counts.
No co-applicant filings are recorded in the current evidence. All applicants appear to be filing independently, which is consistent with the very early stage of the field and the small total corpus size.
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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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