The tracked dataset contains 763 published patent records filed between 2015 and the 2026 cut-off date that either name HiPIMS or high power impulse magnetron sputtering directly, or combine HiPIMS-style pulsing claims with PVD/sputter language under the core coating classification C23C14. Annual filings peaked in 2019 at 57 records. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any such count will always look lower than the true filing rate turns out to be.

Filing activity is heavily concentrated: the single leading assignee holds 262 of the 763 records, and the top five assignees combined account for 54.9% of all records in scope. The top ten together reach 67.9%. Below tenth place, which holds 16 records, the field spreads into a long tail of companies filing in the single digits, so competitive monitoring should focus on the handful at the top plus any repeat co-filers rather than the full ranked list.

Claims distinguish HiPIMS by its pulsed power delivery profile — very high peak power applied in short pulses with a low duty cycle — rather than the continuous or steady-pulsed power used in conventional DC or pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering. This pulsing is claimed because it changes plasma ionisation density and, in turn, coating microstructure and adhesion. In this dataset, C23C coating classifications appear in 89.8% of records and H01J electron/discharge-tube classifications in 35.9%, reflecting that most claims cover either the resulting coating or the plasma-source hardware that produces the pulse.

Filings grew 12% between 2021 and 2024, from 17 to 19 records a year, after an earlier peak of 57 in 2019. That is a real if modest increase, not a decline. Years beyond 2024 in any raw count will appear to drop off, but that is a publication-lag artefact rather than a genuine slowdown, since patent filings typically take about 18 months to reach publication.

While C23C coating claims dominate at 89.8% of the 763 records, smaller footprints show HiPIMS reaching into other fields: H01L semiconductor devices at 7.2%, B32B layered products and laminates at 4.3%, A61L sterilising and disinfecting at 2.5%, and H01M batteries and fuel cells at 2.4%. These smaller shares mark branches where HiPIMS claims exist but are far less dense than in the coatings core, which is useful context for anyone assessing freedom to operate outside traditional hard-coating tooling.