Laser Welding Patent Landscape 2026
Laser Welding Patent Landscape in 2026
Laser welding is a mature, heavily concentrated field with 7,706 patent families in scope, led by Toyota Motor Corporation at a commanding distance from all challengers. Annual filing volume has eased from its 2019 peak, and the top five filers account for one-fifth of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, signaling an entrenched competitive structure with limited openings at the core.
Toyota leads a concentrated field of automotive and industrial incumbents
Toyota Motor Corporation holds the top position in laser welding with 1,007 patent records, nearly 52% more than the second-ranked Nippon Steel Corporation at 663 patent records — a gap that reflects decades of sustained investment in laser-based body and powertrain joining.
The top five filers — Toyota Motor Corporation, Nippon Steel Corporation, Toshiba, Panasonic Intellectual Property Management, and General Electric — together account for 20% of the hundred largest filers’ combined patent records, indicating a moderately concentrated top tier with a meaningful but not insurmountable second tier immediately below.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota Motor Corporation | 1,007 | |
| 2 | Nippon Steel Corporation | 663 | |
| 3 | Toshiba Corporation | 629 | |
| 4 | Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. | 565 | |
| 5 | General Electric Company | 462 | |
| 6 | Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | 425 | |
| 7 | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | 419 | |
| 8 | LG Energy Solution Ltd. | 387 | |
| 9 | IPG Photonics Corporation | 370 | |
| 10 | Kobe Steel, Ltd. | 369 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Han’s Laser Technology Industry Group Co., Ltd. | 367 | |
| 12 | Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 355 | |
| 13 | ArcelorMittal SA | 337 | |
| 14 | JFE Steel Corporation | 317 | |
| 15 | LAIR LIQUIDE SA POUR LETUDE & LEXPLOITATION DES PR… | 315 | |
| 16 | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. | 311 | |
| 17 | Robert Bosch GmbH | 249 | |
| 18 | Precitec GmbH & Co. KG | 236 | |
| 19 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 233 | |
| 20 | Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. | 212 |
The dominance of Japanese automakers and steelmakers in the top ten, alongside laser-equipment specialists such as IPG Photonics and industrial conglomerates such as General Electric, reflects the field’s dual character: process owners (OEMs, steelmakers) and enabler-technology owners (laser and optics firms) both hold strong positions.
Filing counts for 2024 and especially 2025–2026 are understated due to the typical 18–24 month patent publication lag; they should not be read as indicators of reduced strategic interest. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Volume peaked in 2019; battery and additive-manufacturing branches are expanding the technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that crested in 2019 and has since seen volume ease, while the technology composition chart shows that laser welding’s patent footprint now extends well beyond core joining into additive manufacturing, battery assembly, and optics.
Annual filing trend
Filings rose steadily from 2017 to a peak of 1,054 patent records in 2019, then declined through 2022 and 2023. The 2024 and 2025–2026 bars are materially understated due to publication lag and should not be interpreted as a continuing structural decline; the true recent-year volume will be higher once pending applications publish.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B23K (welding, soldering and brazing) dominates as expected, but the presence of B33Y (additive manufacturing / 3D printing), H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells), B22F (powder metallurgy), and G02B (optical elements and systems) as secondary branches confirms that laser welding IP is being filed across adjacent manufacturing paradigms, particularly EV battery pack welding and metal powder-bed fusion.
↗ 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.
Method for the laser beam welding of a plurality o…
A method for laser beam welding of a plurality of component parts at a plurality of processing locations of a component by using a laser welding apparatus includes (a) measuring a respective processing location of the plurality of processing locations by using a measurement beam and/or by using a sensor system, and (b) laser beam welding of a previously… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surgical anvil manufacturing methods | 811 |
| 2 | Laser production of articles from powders | 787 |
| 3 | Additive manufacturing of active devices using die… | 481 |
| 4 | Method and system for producing complex-shape obje… | 481 |
| 5 | Method and apparatus for assembly of car bodies an… | 435 |
| 6 | Clamp for approximating tissue sections | 407 |
| 7 | Surgical anvil manufacturing methods | 345 |
| 8 | Transparent material processing with an ultrashort… | 344 |
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 patent structure means for laser welding R&D investment
The combination of a post-peak lifecycle, moderate top-tier concentration, and expanding adjacent branches creates a specific risk-reward map: core joining is crowded, but battery-cell welding and laser-assisted additive manufacturing remain relatively open.
Post-peak field with easing annual volume
The lifecycle stage is Decline, driven by annual filings easing back from the 2019 peak of 1,054 patent records. This does not indicate technological obsolescence; it reflects saturation of the core B23K joining space. New entrants should target application-specific sub-fields — battery, additive, medical — rather than competing in the crowded core process space.
Lifecycle: Post-PeakEntrenched leaders, but a large and active second tier
The top five filers hold 20% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, and the gap between rank 1 (1,007 patent records) and rank 10 (369 patent records) is steep. However, ranks 6–20 are densely populated by steelmakers, energy companies, and laser OEMs, creating a competitive second tier that can move quickly into adjacent whitespace. New entrants face a high barrier at the core but a more accessible path in application-specific niches.
Concentration: Moderate-HighToyota ecosystem and IPG Photonics partnerships dominate co-filing
The most active co-filing relationships involve Toyota Motor Corporation pairing with Toyota Motor Europe, Denso, and Aisin — all within its supplier and affiliate network — with 19, 17, and 17 joint filings respectively. IPG Photonics shows notable cross-industry collaboration with Volkswagen (14 joint filings), Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 7 filings), and IPG Laser GmbH (7 filings). Honda Motor co-files with Kikuchi Press Industry (10 filings). These relationships signal that the most productive collaboration paths combine laser-source specialists with OEM process owners.
Ecosystem: Supplier-OEM PairsUS and EPO filings dominate; China and Korea are secondary but growing
The United States leads all jurisdictions with 7,675 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 4,920 and WIPO (PCT) at 1,916. Japan, Canada, and China rank next. The relatively modest China count of 734 patent records — given that Hans Laser Tech ranks 11th overall — suggests Chinese filers may be prioritizing domestic CNIPA filings not fully represented in this corpus, and that China’s strategic relevance in the field is likely higher than the jurisdiction count alone implies. South Korea at 412 patent records reflects the Hyundai and Samsung SDI positions.
Geography: US/EPO CoreGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Toyota Motor Corporation | 19 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Denso Corporation | 17 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Aisin Corporation | 17 |
| IPG Photonics Corporation | Volkswagen AG | 14 |
| Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | Kikuchi Press Industry Co., Ltd. | 10 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Rexulti Co., Ltd. | 9 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Toyota Motor Europe SA/NV | 7 |
| IPG Photonics Corporation | Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) | 7 |
| IPG Photonics Corporation | IPG Laser GmbH | 7 |
| Toshiba Corporation | Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation | 6 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Toyota leads on volume; Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the notable momentum outlier
The leader ranking is dominated by Japanese automotive and steel companies, with laser-equipment specialists and energy-sector firms providing competitive depth. Most incumbents show declining recent-period filing rates, making Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ new-entrant trajectory the most strategically notable signal.
Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation holds 1,007 patent records — the largest position in the corpus by a wide margin. Its technology emphasis is concentrated in core laser welding processes (B23K 26, 507 records) with secondary coverage in battery cell assembly (H01M 50, 61 records), reflecting its dual EV and conventional powertrain welding programs. Recent-period filings are down 35% versus the prior three-year window, consistent with the field-wide post-peak trend rather than a withdrawal of strategic commitment.
patent records: 1,007Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries holds 311 patent records and is the only top-tier applicant showing a new-entrant momentum trend in the recent filing window — a sharp contrast to the broad declines seen at Toyota (-35%), General Electric (-61%), and Panasonic (-57%). Its technology focus spans core welding (B23K 26, 208 records) and arc welding processes (B23K 9, 62 records), suggesting an industrial and energy-sector joining orientation. This combination of a sizable existing portfolio and accelerating recent activity makes it the most strategically active challenger to watch.
patent records: 311| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Motor Corporation | 37 | ▼ -35% |
| General Electric Company | 20 | ▼ -61% |
| Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. | 59 | ▼ -57% |
| Toshiba Corporation | 12 | ▼ -29% |
| IPG Photonics Corporation | 33 | ▼ -58% |
| Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | 10 | ▼ -60% |
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. | 12 | ▲ new entrant |
| ArcelorMittal SA | 36 | ▼ -45% |
Battery welding and additive manufacturing are the most technically active under-served branches
Five IPC branches appear in the laser welding corpus at relatively low shares of the dominant B23K class, yet each has plausible technical overlap with laser welding processes and identifiable commercial demand vectors. These are observations of relative sparsity, not validated market opportunities.
H01M · Batteries, Cells & Fuel Cells
H01M captures 1,205 patent records in this corpus — roughly 3% of B23K — despite laser welding being the preferred joining method for EV battery tab-to-busbar and cell-to-cell connections. The sparsity relative to B23K suggests that battery-specific laser welding process claims (thermal management, dissimilar-metal copper-aluminum joining, in-line inspection) remain undercrowded. LG Energy Solution (387 patent records overall) and Toshiba (H01M 50 secondary focus) are active, but the sub-field has room for process specialists. A realistic entry path would target thin-foil and hermetic-seal welding for pouch and prismatic cell formats.
Search this in Eureka →B33Y · Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)
B33Y accounts for 1,224 patent records — also approximately 3% of B23K — yet laser powder-bed fusion and directed-energy deposition are mechanistically laser welding processes applied layer by layer. General Electric (B33Y 10, 101 records) and IPG Photonics (B33Y 10, 31 records) have staked positions, but the intersection of real-time melt-pool monitoring, multi-material laser deposition, and repair welding for turbine components remains sparsely claimed. Entry paths exist for optics and sensing specialists able to address process-monitoring gaps that separate prototyping from certified aerospace production.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route across welding, turbines, batteries, and additive manufacturing
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | B23K 26 · Welding, soldering & brazing | B23K 101 · Welding, soldering & brazing | B23K 103 · Welding, soldering & brazing | B23K 9 · Welding, soldering & brazing | B23K 37 · Welding, soldering & brazing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Strong · 507 | Emerging · 68 | Emerging · 53 | Emerging · 24 | Absent |
| General Electric Company | Strong · 349 | Emerging · 56 | Emerging · 31 | Moderate · 100 | Absent |
| Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. | Strong · 396 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | Strong · 236 | Absent | Emerging · 44 | Emerging · 36 | Emerging · 26 |
| LG Energy Solution Ltd. | Strong · 177 | Moderate · 70 | Absent | Absent | Moderate · 62 |
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. | Strong · 208 | Absent | Absent | Moderate · 62 | Emerging · 25 |
| Toshiba Corporation | Strong · 264 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 7,706 patent families. The United States is the lead filing jurisdiction with 7,675 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 4,920 and WIPO (PCT) at 1,916.
Toyota Motor Corporation is the largest filer with 1,007 patent records, which is roughly 52% more than the second-ranked Nippon Steel Corporation at 663 patent records. Toyota’s portfolio is concentrated in core laser process claims (B23K 26) with secondary coverage in battery assembly (H01M 50).
Annual filing volume peaked in 2019 at 1,054 patent records and has eased since then, placing the field in a post-peak lifecycle stage. The 2024–2026 counts are materially understated due to the 18–24 month publication lag and should not be taken as evidence of a continuing structural decline.
Additive manufacturing (B33Y, 1,224 patent records), battery cells and fuel cells (H01M, 1,205 patent records), and powder metallurgy (B22F, 967 patent records) are the three largest adjacent branches. Plastics shaping (B29C, 1,344 patent records) and optical elements (G02B, 855 patent records) also feature prominently.
Among the top tier, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the only applicant with a new-entrant momentum trend in the recent filing window. All other tracked top applicants — including Toyota (-35%), General Electric (-61%), Panasonic (-57%), and IPG Photonics (-58%) — show declining recent-period filing rates.
Toyota Motor Corporation co-files most actively within its own corporate ecosystem: Toyota Motor Europe (19 joint filings), Denso (17), and Aisin (17). Outside that group, IPG Photonics co-files with Volkswagen (14 joint filings), Empa (7), and IPG Laser GmbH (7), and Honda co-files with Kikuchi Press Industry (10).
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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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