Nickel Base Corrosion Resistant Alloys Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
Nickel base corrosion resistant alloy patents for chemical plant service
Filing has fallen sharply since its 2017 peak of 86 records — 2021's 46 filings dropped to 12 by 2024, a 74% decline, though 2025-26 figures are still filling in. Filings hit 86 in 2017, the high point of the window, then eased through the early 2020s. The 2021-to-2024 span alone shows a drop from 46 to 12 records, a 74% fall over three years — the clearest complete-year signal the data supports.
- 1KK TOSHIBA3.3%
- 2NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION3.2%
- 3SUMITOMO METAL IND LTD3.1%
- 4MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD2.8%
- 5HITACHI LTD2.6%
See the full nickel base corrosion resistant alloys for chemical plants 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 on this landscape
Who holds the most patents in nickel base corrosion resistant alloys for chemical plants?
The ranking covers 100 assignees, and the leading company holds 58 of the 1,770 records in scope. The top 5 assignees together hold 15.0% of all records and the top 10 hold 25.9%, which means the field has recognizable leaders but is far from dominated by any single owner. Steelmakers, heavy-industrial conglomerates and energy majors make up most of the leading names, reflecting the dual use of these alloys in fabrication equipment and well or pipeline service.
Is patent filing in this field growing or shrinking?
Filing peaked in 2017 at 86 records and has declined since, with the clearest complete-year evidence showing a drop from 46 filings in 2021 to 12 in 2024, a 74% fall. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the lower counts shown for 2025 and 2026 are still filling in and should not be read as a further acceleration of the decline. Overall, the trend points to cooling fresh-filing activity in mature composition space rather than to renewed growth.
Which technology areas see the most patent activity?
Alloy composition claims under IPC class C22C dominate, appearing in 49.9% of all 1,770 records. Welding and brazing (B23K, 13.1%), pipe fittings (F16L, 10.9%) and heat treatment of metals (C21D, 10.8%) follow at meaningfully lower shares, with nuclear reactor applications (G21C) the smallest tracked cluster at 5.7%. Because a record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should be read as overlapping clusters, not exclusive categories.
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 Nickel Base Corrosion Resistant Alloys for Chemical Plants 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.