Laser Welding Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Laser welding and keyhole stability patents: who leads and where the field is still open
Concentrated but not locked up. the top 5 assignees hold 24.5% of all 1,224 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 34.0% — leaving most of the field to a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants. Annual filings rose to a peak of 119 in 2019, then eased; the 2021-to-2024 window shows a -27% change (64 down to 47 records). 2025 and 2026 figures are undercounts because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent two years should not be read as a continued decline.
- 1PRECITEC GMBH8.4%
- 2IPG PHOTONICS CORP8.1%
- 3PRECITEC ITM3.1%
- 4LIBURDI ENG2.6%
- 5THE PENN STATE RES FOUND INC2.3%
See the full laser welding and keyhole stability 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 laser welding and keyhole stability patents
Who holds the most patents in laser welding and keyhole stability?
The leading assignee in this dataset holds 103 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 28 and the tenth at 21. That steep drop-off after the leader means the field has one clear frontrunner but no broad dominant group beneath it. The ranked list covers 100 companies in total, and together the top 5 hold 24.5% of all 1,224 records while the top 10 hold 34.0%, leaving most filings distributed across a long tail of smaller filers.
Is patent filing in laser welding growing or slowing down?
Filing peaked at 119 records in 2019 and has since eased, with the 2021-to-2024 span showing a -27% change from 64 down to 47 records. That said, 2025 and 2026 figures in any patent dataset are understated because publication typically lags actual filing by about 18 months, so the most recent one to two years should not be read as proof of a continuing decline. The safest read is that activity has cooled from its 2019 peak but the most current trend is still filling in.
What technology areas dominate laser welding patent claims?
Welding, soldering and brazing (IPC class B23K) appears in 66.6% of the 1,224 records in scope, making it by far the dominant classification. Behind it, shaping of plastics (B29C, 9.8%), powder metallurgy (B22F, 9.6%) and material analysis and testing (G01N, 9.5%) each cover under a tenth of records. Control systems (G05B, 6.8%) and radiation or light measurement (G01J, 5.4%) trail further, marking the process-monitoring layer as comparatively thin relative to the core welding claims.
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 Laser Welding and Keyhole Stability 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.