Metal Additive Manufacturing Patent Landscape 2026
Metal Additive Manufacturing Patent Landscape in 2026
Metal additive manufacturing is a growth-stage field with 6,897 patent families in scope, led by aerospace and industrial primes—RTX Corp, General Electric, and Siemens Energy—who together with two other top filers account for roughly one quarter of the hundred largest filers’ combined output. Filing activity has expanded 21% over the recent window, with the United States the dominant filing jurisdiction.
RTX Corp leads a concentrated aerospace-industrial bloc
RTX Corp holds the top position with 290 patent families, followed by General Electric Co with 249 and Hamilton Sundstrand Corp with 137. The ranking is anchored by established aerospace and energy primes, with pure-play additive specialists such as Desktop Metal and VulcanForms appearing from rank five onward.
The top five filers’ share of the hundred largest filers’ combined total stands at 25%, indicating meaningful concentration at the summit but still sufficient breadth for challengers. A visible tier gap separates the top two (RTX at 290, GE at 249) from the third-ranked filer at 137, suggesting the leaders have built portfolio depth that would take sustained investment to replicate.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RTX Corp | 290 | |
| 2 | General Electric Company | 249 | |
| 3 | Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation | 137 | |
| 4 | SIEMENS ENERGY GLOBAL GMBH & CO KG | 135 | |
| 5 | Desktop Metal Inc | 87 | |
| 6 | ArcelorMittal SA | 84 | |
| 7 | VulcanForms Inc | 77 | |
| 8 | Seurat Technologies Inc | 73 | |
| 9 | Divergent Technologies Inc | 72 | |
| 10 | Mitsubishi Materials Corporation | 69 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) | 68 | |
| 12 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 58 | |
| 13 | Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC | 56 | |
| 14 | The Boeing Company | 55 | |
| 15 | Nikon SLM Solutions AG | 54 | |
| 16 | GE Infrastructure Technology LLC | 54 | |
| 17 | Fabric8Labs Inc | 52 | |
| 18 | South China University of Technology | 51 | |
| 19 | Northwestern Polytechnical University | 50 | |
| 20 | Norsk Titanium AS | 46 |
The dominance of aerospace and defense primes implies that much of the innovation centers on high-value, tight-tolerance applications—turbine components, structural aerospace parts—where regulatory certification and materials qualification create durable barriers. Entrants focusing on adjacent end-markets or novel feedstock classes face a less crowded competitive landscape.
The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are subject to publication lag and will undercount true activity; conclusions about the most recent period should be treated as provisional until the corpus updates. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing volume still expanding; core process classes dominate the technology mix
The annual filing chart tracks portfolio build-up from 2017 to the present, while the technology composition chart reveals where patenting effort is concentrated across IPC classes.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings climbed steadily from 341 families in 2017 to a recorded peak of 1,038 in 2023, with recent-window growth of 21%. The apparent drop in 2024 and 2025 is attributable to publication lag rather than a real deceleration; the 2026 figure of 82 families should be treated as essentially zero for trend purposes. The field remains in a growth stage.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B33Y (Additive manufacturing / 3D printing) and B22F (Powder metallurgy) are the dominant IPC classes, reflecting the laser powder-bed and directed-energy-deposition process core of the field. Secondary clusters in B29C (Shaping of plastics), C22C (Alloys), and B23K (Welding, soldering & brazing) show that feedstock formulation, hybrid manufacturing, and post-process joining are active adjacent areas. Downstream digital classes—G06F, G05B, G06N—are comparatively sparse, signaling that process-control and AI-driven optimization remain under-patented relative to hardware.
↗ 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.
Feedforward control of laser powder bed fusion
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for controlled laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) metal additive manufacturing. One of the methods includes predicting thermal information of a part to be printed; analyzing the thermal information to identify one or more areas of potential heat buildup; and… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Method of using a powered stapling device | 337 |
| 2 | Additive manufacturing using a mobile scan area | 181 |
| 3 | Control of solidification in laser powder bed fusi… | 181 |
| 4 | Multi-scale mesh modeling software products and co… | 136 |
| 5 | Devices and Methods for Additive Manufacturing of … | 136 |
| 6 | Additive manufacturing | 134 |
| 7 | Large scale additive machine | 126 |
| 8 | Systems, methods, kits, and apparatuses for edge-d… | 120 |
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 structure means for R&D investment
The landscape’s concentration, growth trajectory, and technology mix each carry distinct implications for teams deciding where to allocate R&D capital and IP budget.
Growth stage with broad process coverage but maturing hardware IP
The field is classified as Growth, with annual filings still rising on a multi-year basis and recent-window growth of 21%. Core hardware classes (B33Y, B22F) are heavily populated, meaning incremental process patents face a dense prior-art landscape. Higher-value differentiation is shifting toward materials science, process optimization software, and end-application-specific IP.
Life cycle: GrowthTop-two incumbents hold a substantial portfolio lead
RTX Corp (290 patent families) and General Electric Co (249 patent families) sit distinctly above the third-ranked filer at 137, creating a two-firm leadership tier. The top five filers account for 25% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output. New entrants and challengers are more visible from rank five downward, where pure-play additive companies and university spinouts compete.
Top-2 leadSiemens Energy leads co-filing activity with academia and materials suppliers
The most active co-filing pair is Siemens Energy Global and the University of Waterloo (8 joint filings), followed by Siemens Energy Global with VDM Metals International (6 filings). Seurat Technologies and Lawrence Livermore National Security have co-filed 5 times, linking a commercial laser-area-printing startup to a national lab. General Electric’s co-filings with GE Avio and GE Germany Holdings reflect intra-group portfolio coordination rather than external ecosystem building.
Co-filing activeUS and China are the primary filing arenas; Europe a close third
The United States leads with 2,215 patent records, China follows with 1,978, and the European Patent Office accounts for 1,101. WIPO (PCT) filings at 738 indicate meaningful international protection strategies. Germany stands out as the most active single-country European filing destination at 311 records. India is emerging with 188 records, suggesting growing domestic manufacturing ambition in metal AM.
US–China–EPO triadGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | University of Waterloo | 8 |
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | VDM Metals International GmbH | 6 |
| Seurat Technologies Inc | Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC | 5 |
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | Siemens AG | 3 |
| General Electric Company | GE Avio Srl | 1 |
| General Electric Company | GE Germany Holdings GmbH | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
RTX Corp expands aggressively; GE consolidates on process and product classes
The top two filers differ in trajectory and technical emphasis: RTX Corp is accelerating, while GE’s overall filing rate has declined from earlier highs despite retaining the second-largest portfolio.
RTX Corp
RTX Corp holds 290 patent families and is the most active recent filer among the leaders, with a momentum trend of +69% in the recent period versus the prior three years. Its technical focus is anchored in B22F 10 (powder metallurgy process steps) and B33Y 10 and B33Y 80 (additive manufacturing process and article classes), indicating a strategy oriented toward qualifying specific laser powder-bed fusion processes and the resulting structural components for aerospace applications.
patent families: 290General Electric Co
General Electric Co holds 249 patent families but shows a declining recent momentum of –62% versus its prior three-year period, suggesting a portfolio that is maturing rather than expanding. Its technical emphasis spans B33Y 30 and B33Y 10 (additive manufacturing apparatus and process) and B22F 3 (powder metallurgy consolidation), reflecting a broad platform that has been built over many years across turbine and industrial component applications.
patent families: 249| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| General Electric Company | 35 | ▼ -62% |
| RTX Corp | 86 | ▲ +69% |
| Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation | 21 | ▼ -77% |
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | 54 | ▼ -17% |
| Desktop Metal Inc | 4 | ▼ -87% |
| ArcelorMittal SA | 52 | ▲ 5.2× vs prior 3-yr |
| VulcanForms Inc | 33 | ▼ -25% |
| Seurat Technologies Inc | 17 | ▼ -60% |
Under-served routes in alloys, welding, and process-control software
Several IPC branches adjacent to the dominant B33Y and B22F core show comparatively sparse patent density relative to their technical relevance to metal additive manufacturing, warranting attention by R&D teams evaluating where portfolio gaps exist.
C22C · Alloys — feedstock composition IP
C22C (Alloys) accounts for 1,215 patent records and holds a 6% share among the top IPC branches—substantial in absolute terms but modest given that alloy design is a primary lever for unlocking new application domains in metal AM. ArcelorMittal’s momentum (5.2× vs prior three-year period) and its concentration in C22C 33 suggest the materials-science angle is attracting new entrants. Teams with proprietary powder or wire feedstock compositions have a credible entry path through alloy-specific filing before the space matures further.
Search this in Eureka →G05B / G06F · Process control and digital process twins
G05B (Control and regulating systems) and G06F (Electric digital data processing) each hold shares of approximately 1% among the top IPC branches—markedly thin relative to the hardware core. In-situ monitoring, closed-loop melt-pool control, and digital-twin-based build simulation are technically well-motivated additions to any metal AM system, yet the patent density here remains low. The sparse record count in G06N (AI-based computing, 113 records) reinforces this gap. Teams combining sensor hardware with machine-learning-driven process optimization would encounter a less contested prior-art landscape than in core process classes.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | B33Y 10 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B22F 10 · Powder metallurgy | B33Y 30 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B33Y 50 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B22F 12 · Powder metallurgy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Electric Company | Strong · 204 | Moderate · 97 | Strong · 213 | Strong · 124 | Moderate · 66 |
| RTX Corp | Strong · 82 | Strong · 104 | Moderate · 42 | Strong · 55 | Moderate · 47 |
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | Strong · 65 | Strong · 106 | Absent | Strong · 65 | Moderate · 28 |
| Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation | Strong · 73 | Strong · 62 | Strong · 62 | Moderate · 32 | Moderate · 27 |
| Desktop Metal Inc | Strong · 70 | Absent | Strong · 68 | Strong · 53 | Absent |
| Nikon SLM Solutions AG | Absent | Strong · 43 | Strong · 44 | Moderate · 21 | Strong · 40 |
| United Technologies Corporation | Strong · 73 | Absent | Moderate · 36 | Moderate · 30 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 6,897 patent families in scope globally. The United States is the largest single filing jurisdiction with 2,215 patent records, followed by China with 1,978 and the European Patent Office with 1,101.
RTX Corp leads with 290 patent families, ahead of General Electric Co at 249 and Hamilton Sundstrand Corp at 137. RTX Corp also shows the strongest recent momentum among the top filers, with a +69% trend versus its prior three-year baseline.
Yes. The field is classified as Growth, with recent-window growth of 21% and annual filings rising from 341 in 2017 to a recorded peak of 1,038 in 2023. Apparent declines in 2024–2025 data reflect publication lag, not a real slowdown.
B33Y (Additive manufacturing / 3D printing) and B22F (Powder metallurgy) dominate the technology mix. Secondary clusters include B29C (Shaping of plastics), C22C (Alloys), and B23K (Welding, soldering & brazing). Digital process-control classes such as G05B and G06F remain comparatively sparse.
Two adjacent branches stand out for their technical relevance relative to patent density: C22C (Alloys) at a 6% share suggests feedstock composition IP is still developing, and G05B/G06F (process control and digital data processing) each hold approximately 1% share despite being critical to in-situ monitoring and build optimization.
Siemens Energy Global leads co-filing activity, with 8 joint filings with the University of Waterloo and 6 with VDM Metals International. Seurat Technologies and Lawrence Livermore National Security have 5 co-filings, linking a commercial area-printing startup with a national laboratory. General Electric’s co-filings are primarily intra-group, involving GE Avio and GE Germany Holdings.
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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.