Metal Additive Manufacturing Patent Landscape 2026
Metal Additive Manufacturing Patent Landscape in 2026
General Electric dominates a moderately concentrated field, holding the top position among the hundred largest filers by a wide margin. Annual filing volume peaked in 2018 and has eased since, though the multi-year body of prior art remains substantial at 17,454 patent families.
General Electric leads a field where the top five control nearly a quarter of the leading filers’ output
General Electric Co holds the top position with 1,369 patent families, more than 2.7 times the output of the second-ranked RTX Corp (497 patent families), establishing a clear lead tier in the metal additive manufacturing space.
The top five filers — General Electric, RTX Corp, Siemens Energy Global, Renishaw, and. The Boeing Co — together account for 23% of the combined total among the hundred largest filers, indicating moderate rather than extreme concentration; challengers in the 300–500 family range form a competitive second tier.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Electric Co | 1,369 | |
| 2 | RTX Corp | 497 | |
| 3 | SIEMENS ENERGY GLOBAL GMBH & CO KG | 460 | |
| 4 | Renishaw PLC | 392 | |
| 5 | The Boeing Co | 355 | |
| 6 | Align Technology Inc | 351 | |
| 7 | Divergent Technologies Inc | 342 | |
| 8 | Applied Materials Inc | 340 | |
| 9 | Siemens AG | 320 | |
| 10 | Peridot Print LLC | 312 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Hamilton Sundstrand Corp | 290 | |
| 12 | Nikon SLM Solutions AG | 273 | |
| 13 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP | 263 | |
| 14 | Velo3D Inc | 256 | |
| 15 | DMG Mori Co Ltd | 211 | |
| 16 | Proterial Ltd | 211 | |
| 17 | South China University of Technology | 208 | |
| 18 | GE Infrastructure Technology LLC | 204 | |
| 19 | HUAZHONG UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 191 | |
| 20 | Constellium Technology Centre | 187 |
General Electric’s position, reinforced by its GE Infrastructure Tech LLC affiliate (204 patent families, ranked 18th), suggests deep institutional commitment to process and systems IP across turbine and aerospace applications. Aerospace and energy primes dominate the top ten, signalling that the field’s commercial gravity remains in high-value structural parts.
Filings from 2024 onward are subject to publication lag and will likely revise upward as more applications publish; apparent recent counts should not be read as final. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing volume has eased from its 2018 peak; core additive and powder-metallurgy classes dominate but control and alloy branches are growing in relative importance
The two charts below show the annual filing trend over the last decade and the distribution of patents across IPC technology branches, revealing both the maturity arc of the field and its current technical emphasis.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings peaked at 2,351 families in 2018 and have trended down to 1,980 in 2022 and 1,904 in 2023. The 2024 and 2025 figures (1,644 and 1,000 respectively) are underreported due to publication lag and should not be read as representing actual activity levels. The field is past its peak-growth phase on an annual basis while still carrying a large cumulative base.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B33Y (additive manufacturing, 3D printing) and B22F (powder metallurgy) are the dominant branches, reflecting the field’s core process focus. Secondary clusters around B29C (shaping), B23K (welding and brazing), and C22C (alloys) indicate significant activity in feedstock preparation, joining processes, and material formulation. Control systems (G05B) and digital data processing (G06F) branches are present but smaller, pointing to relatively less-developed software and process-intelligence IP.
↗ 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.
Off-axis laser beam measurement for laser powder b…
Disclosed herein is a laser beam measurement system that includes a beam measurement device, a positioning apparatus, and a control system. The beam measurement device can include an imager and a plurality of optical elements configured to form an optical path to the imager within the beam measurement device. The positioning apparatus is configured to… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Method and apparatus for 3D printing by selective … | 508 |
| 2 | Procedure and apparatus for in-situ monitoring and… | 433 |
| 3 | Direct fabrication of orthodontic appliances with … | 355 |
| 4 | Method of using a powered stapling device | 337 |
| 5 | Implant device and method for manufacture | 336 |
| 6 | Patient-specific medical procedures and devices, a… | 310 |
| 7 | Powder dispensing apparatus and method | 301 |
| 8 | Additive manufacturing of composite materials | 285 |
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 R&D investment decisions
The combination of a past-peak filing curve, moderate concentration, and active cross-sector collaboration defines where incremental versus disruptive R&D bets make the most sense.
Past-peak: the field is maturing, not declining
The lifecycle stage is classified as Decline based on annual filings easing back from the 2018 peak, with a recent-window growth rate of –17%. However, the 17,454-family cumulative corpus and continued multi-thousand-family annual volumes indicate a mature, not collapsed, field. New entrants face a dense prior-art landscape and should target differentiated process or material niches rather than broad platform claims.
Mature / Post-PeakModerate concentration with a strong lead tier
The top five filers hold 23% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, a moderate concentration level. General Electric’s 1,369-family position dwarfs the next ranked player, but the second tier (RTX Corp at 497, Siemens Energy Global at 460, Renishaw at 392, Boeing at 355) is dense enough that challengers can still differentiate by application vertical or material class. Align Technology’s recent +111% momentum signals that dental and consumer-health adjacencies are actively contested.
Moderate ConcentrationGE–Concept Laser and HP–Atlantic Research are the most active co-filing pairs
The most active co-applicant pair is General Electric Co and Concept Laser GmbH (47 co-filed families), reflecting GE’s absorption of the laser powder-bed fusion specialist. Hewlett-Packard Development Company and Atlantic Research Institute are the second most active pair (20 families), followed by HP and Nanyang Technological University (10 families). Siemens AG co-files with both Siemens Energy Inc (5 families) and Siemens Industry Software (4 families), illustrating intra-group cross-division IP coordination. These patterns suggest that hardware-software integration and academic-industrial partnerships are the primary collaboration models.
Co-filing ActiveUS-centric filing with EPO and PCT as secondary routes; China growing
The United States is the primary filing jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT). China ranks fourth, ahead of Canada and Germany, indicating that Chinese applicants and multinationals are increasingly seeking protection in the Chinese market. Markets such as Japan, India, and South Korea carry relatively low filing counts, which may reflect either limited local commercial priority or an enforcement-cost calculation by filers — both worth assessing for market-entry strategy.
US-DominatedGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| General Electric Co | Concept Laser GmbH | 47 |
| Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP | Atlantic Research Institute | 20 |
| Concept Laser GmbH | GE ADDITIVE GERMANY GMBH | 11 |
| Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP | Nanyang Technological University | 10 |
| Concept Laser GmbH | KU Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven) | 6 |
| Align Technology Inc | Cubicure GmbH | 6 |
| General Electric Co | Carpenter Technology Corporation | 5 |
| Siemens AG | Siemens Energy Inc | 5 |
| General Electric Co | Utibet GmbH | 4 |
| Siemens AG | Siemens Industry Software GmbH | 4 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
General Electric and Align Technology: contrasting trajectories at the top
The leader board is dominated by aerospace and energy primes, but application-specific specialists are posting the strongest recent momentum. Two contrasting trajectories illustrate the field’s strategic split.
General Electric Co
General Electric Co holds 1,369 patent families, the largest position in the field. Its technology focus is concentrated in B33Y10 (additive manufacturing processes, 958 families), B33Y30 (additive manufacturing apparatus, 747 families), and B29C64 (shaping processes, 699 families). Recent filing momentum shows a -57% trend versus the prior three-year period, consistent with the field-wide maturation pattern and a shift from broad platform-building to selective prosecution of high-value claims.
patent families: 1,369Align Technology Inc
Align Technology Inc holds 351 patent families and is posting the strongest recent momentum of the tracked leaders at +111% versus the prior period. Its technology focus is distinctively different from the aerospace primes: A61C7 (dentistry and oral hygiene, 247 families), B33Y80 (additive manufacturing products, 227 families), and B29C64 (shaping, 149 families). This dental-specific positioning in a maturing field illustrates how application-vertical specialisation can drive above-average recent-period growth even as broad platform filings decline.
patent families: 351| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| General Electric Co | 188 | ▼ -57% |
| Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP | 24 | ▼ -89% |
| Concept Laser GmbH | 57 | ▼ -64% |
| Siemens AG | 20 | ▼ -78% |
| Align Technology Inc | 177 | ▲ +111% |
| Renishaw PLC | 49 | ▼ -51% |
| Divergent Technologies Inc | 114 | ▲ +31% |
| The Boeing Co | 55 | ▼ -64% |
Under-served adjacent branches: process control and alloy design warrant closer attention
Several IPC branches adjacent to the dominant additive manufacturing classes carry notably lower patent density relative to their technical relevance to the field. These are observations of relative sparsity; technical value and entry-path feasibility should be validated independently before treating them as investment opportunities.
G05B · Control & Regulating Systems
G05B carries 800 patent records in this corpus — roughly 4% of the B33Y tally — despite real-time process monitoring and closed-loop feedback being widely identified as a key barrier to part-quality consistency in metal AM. The top-cited patent ‘Procedure and apparatus for in-situ monitoring’ (433 citations) signals high demand for this capability. Sparse filing relative to technical importance suggests that well-scoped claims around melt-pool monitoring algorithms, sensor fusion, or adaptive laser-path correction could find less-crowded prior art. A realistic entry path runs through academic-industrial collaboration, given that universities such as Huazhong University of Science and Technology (191 patent families) are active in process-control research.
Search this in Eureka →C22C · Alloys
C22C (alloys) holds 2,724 patent records — substantial in absolute terms but only about 22% of the B22F (powder metallurgy) count, despite feedstock alloy composition being a direct determinant of printability, microstructure, and final-part performance. Activity here is concentrated among materials specialists and a handful of aerospace primes. An entry path centred on alloy compositions specifically optimised for laser powder-bed fusion or directed energy deposition parameters — rather than conventional wrought or cast alloys — could access relatively open claim space. Constellium Technology Centre (187 patent families, ranked 20th) is the most visible materials-company participant and a useful prior-art reference point.
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) | B29C 64 · Shaping of plastics | B33Y 80 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Electric Co | Strong · 958 | Moderate · 462 | Strong · 747 | Strong · 699 | Moderate · 423 |
| Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP | Strong · 281 | Absent | Strong · 228 | Strong · 436 | Emerging · 75 |
| Concept Laser GmbH | Strong · 219 | Strong · 158 | Strong · 280 | Strong · 303 | Absent |
| Renishaw PLC | Strong · 177 | Strong · 129 | Strong · 191 | Strong · 182 | Absent |
| Siemens AG | Strong · 203 | Strong · 102 | Strong · 117 | Strong · 149 | Moderate · 92 |
| Velo3D Inc | Strong · 146 | Absent | Strong · 183 | Strong · 127 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 17,454 patent families in scope globally. This represents the cumulative body of prior art and active IP across all major filing jurisdictions.
General Electric Co holds the top position with 1,369 patent families, more than 2.7 times the output of the second-ranked filer, RTX Corp (497 patent families).
Annual filing volume peaked in 2018 at 2,351 families and has eased since, with the recent-window growth rate at -17%. The lifecycle stage is classified as past-peak / decline in annual terms, though the cumulative prior-art base remains large. Figures from 2024 onward are underreported due to publication lag.
The United States is the leading jurisdiction by filing count, followed by Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT). China ranks fourth, ahead of Canada and Germany, reflecting growing commercial interest in that market.
G05B (control and regulating systems) and C22C (alloys) carry notably lower patent density relative to their technical relevance. G05B accounts for 800 patent records versus over 18,000 for the dominant B33Y class, despite process-control being a central performance challenge in metal AM.
Among tracked leaders, Align Technology Inc shows the strongest positive momentum at +111% in recent filings versus the prior period, followed by Divergent Technologies Inc at +31%. Most other top-ten filers show declining recent-period volumes consistent with the field’s maturation, with HP Development Company at -89% and Siemens AG at -78% among the steepest declines.
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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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