Nano-Reinforced DED Patent Snapshot 2026
Nano-reinforced directed energy deposition is an early-growth field with just 12 patent families concentrated among nine applicants, led by academic and aerospace-adjacent filers. The top five filers account for 71% of output among the hundred largest filers, signaling high concentration in a nascent space with meaningful room for new entrants.
Delhi Technological University leads a highly concentrated, early-stage field
Delhi Technological University holds the largest position with 3 patent families, followed by GE Avio S.r.l., National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, and Dong-A University Research Foundation for Industry-Academy Cooperation, each with 2 patent families. The field’s top five filers together account for 71% of the combined output of the ranked applicants visible in this query.
The tier gap between the leader and the remaining applicants is narrow in absolute terms but pronounced in share terms, reflecting the extreme smallness of the corpus. A single new filing campaign by any well-resourced entrant could materially shift rankings.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delhi Technological University | 3 | |
| 2 | GE Avio S.r.l. | 2 | |
| 3 | NAT CHUNG SHAN INST SCI & TECH | 2 | |
| 4 | Dong-A University Research Foundation for Industry-Academy Cooperation | 2 | |
| 5 | Toyota Central R&D Labs, Inc. | 1 | |
| 6 | Denso Corporation | 1 | |
| 7 | NOVA University Lisbon | 1 | |
| 8 | Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad | 1 | |
| 9 | Aisin Corporation | 1 |
The presence of a national defense research institute (National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology), an aerospace OEM (GE Avio S.r.l.), and Japanese automotive suppliers (Denso Corporation, Aisin Corporation, Toyota Central R&D Labs) alongside two Indian universities suggests that nano-reinforced DED is being pursued across multiple end-use verticals from the outset.
Filing data for the most recent 18–24 months is subject to publication lag and likely understates current activity; interpret the 2025–2026 counts as a floor rather than a ceiling. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity accelerating since 2021 across powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing branches
The filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal a field that was dormant until 2021 and has since expanded across closely related IPC branches anchored in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing process classes.
Annual filing trend
Zero activity was recorded from 2017 through 2020. Filings began in 2021 (2 patent families), were absent in 2022, then resumed with 2 patent families in each of 2023 and 2024, climbing to 4 in 2025 and 2 in 2026. Because 2025 and 2026 data remain subject to publication lag, actual recent-year totals are likely higher than shown.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B22F (Powder Metallurgy) is the visible branch, covering all 12 patent families in scope, followed by B33Y (Additive Manufacturing) and B23K (Welding, Soldering and Brazing). C22C (Alloys) appears in a secondary role. B23P (Metal Working, General) and B29C (Shaping of Plastics) are each represented by a single patent family, marking them as sparse adjacent branches.
↗ 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.
Nickel-based superalloy mixed powder having zircon…
Provided is a nickel-based superalloy mixed powder having zirconia for directed energy deposition, a zirconia contained nickel-based superalloy directed energy deposition structure having uniform microstructure and excellent hardness and a method for manufacturing the same. The method of manufacturing the zirconia contained nickel-based superalloy directed… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modified alloy powder and modification method ther… | 5 |
| 2 | Additive manufacturing systems and methods for com… | 3 |
| 3 | Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) system … | 2 |
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.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Delhi Technological University
The field leader holds 3 patent families, concentrated in B22F 10 (powder metallurgy process), B23K 9, and B23K 35 (welding and brazing), indicating a focus on the deposition process mechanics and feedstock-joining science underpinning nano-reinforced DED. Momentum data does not identify a recent-versus-prior trend for this applicant, suggesting its portfolio was established early in the field’s active period.
families: 3GE Avio S.r.l.
GE Avio S.r.l. holds 2 patent families and is flagged as a new entrant in the most recent filing window, signaling that this aerospace OEM entered the nano-reinforced DED space recently. Its technology emphasis spans B22F 10, B22F 12 (powder metallurgy), and B33Y 10 (additive manufacturing process), reflecting an integrated process-to-system approach consistent with aerospace component production requirements.
families: 2Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 12 patent families across 9 applicants. This is a small corpus consistent with an early-growth field that became active in 2021.
Delhi Technological University holds the largest position with 3 patent families, representing the field leader by count. GE Avio S.r.l., National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, and Dong-A University Research Foundation for Industry-Academy Cooperation each hold 2 patent families.
India and the United States are co-leading jurisdictions, each with 4 patent families. Europe (EPO) follows with 2, and Japan and WIPO (PCT) each have 1. China, South Korea, and Germany have no observed filings in the corpus.
The field is classified as Growth. Annual filings have been rising since the field became active in 2021, and the most recent years are understated due to publication lag. The multi-year recent growth rate is 100%.
B22F (Powder Metallurgy) covers all 12 patent families in scope and is the visible branch. B33Y (Additive Manufacturing) and B23K (Welding, Soldering and Brazing) are secondary branches. B23P and B29C are each represented by a single patent family.
The only observed co-applicant relationships are within the Toyota automotive ecosystem: Denso Corporation co-filed with Aisin Corporation, Denso Corporation co-filed with Toyota Central R&D Labs, and Aisin Corporation co-filed with Toyota Central R&D Labs — one shared patent family each. No cross-sector or cross-geography collaborative filings are present in the evidence.
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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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