Electron-Beam Powder-Bed Preheating Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
Electron-Beam Powder-Bed Preheating Patents: Who Leads and Where Filing Is Headed
51.1% of 832 records sit with the top five assignees combined, a concentration that narrows fast after the leader. Annual filings rose from 51 in 2017 to a peak of 125 in 2022, then eased; the 2021-to-2024 span shows a 4% net increase (84 to 87), the most recent comparison unaffected by publication lag. Treat 2025 and 2026 counts as still filling in rather than a genuine decline.
- 1RTX CORP203
- 2SWAGELOK CO79
- 3THE BOEING CO62
- 4FREEMELT AB51
- 5HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORP30
See the full metal additive manufacturing — electron-beam powder-bed preheating patent landscape 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 about this landscape
Who holds the most patents in electron-beam powder-bed preheating?
One assignee leads the ranked field with 203 of the 832 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 30 records. The top five assignees combined account for 51.1% of all 832 records, so the field is concentrated at the top but not dominated by a single monopoly position. Beyond the top ten, which together hold 61.9% of records, filing activity drops into a long tail of companies with only a handful of filings each.
Is filing activity in this space still growing?
Filings rose steadily from 51 in 2017 to a peak of 125 in 2022, then settled to a lower level; comparing the last two complete years, 2021 and 2024, shows a net increase of 4% (84 to 87 records). Figures for 2025 and 2026 are lower still, but that reflects publication lag of roughly eighteen months rather than a genuine drop in filing. Treat any apparent recent decline in the trend chart with that lag in mind.
What patent classes cover electron-beam preheating technology?
The core classes are B33Y (additive manufacturing, covering 54.1% of the 832 records) and B22F (powder metallurgy, 50.4%), confirming this is squarely process-control art within additive manufacturing rather than a niche application. Secondary classes include B29C (plastics shaping, 18.5%) and C22C (alloys, 12.7%). Turbine and valve-related classes such as F01D, F16K and F02C each sit under 8%, indicating those downstream applications are less densely claimed.
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 Metal Additive Manufacturing — Electron-Beam Powder-Bed Preheating Patent Landscape 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.