PDC Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Manufacturing Patents
74.8% concentration. The top 5 assignees account for 2,172 of 2,903 records in scope — filing here means filing against entrenched incumbents, not a fragmented field. Filings peaked at 120 in 2017. Using the window the dataset flags as reliable, 2021 recorded 75 filings and 2024 recorded 31 — a 59% decline over three years. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as incomplete rather than as evidence the field has gone quiet.
- 1BAKER HUGHES CO684
- 2US SYNTHETIC CORP571
- 3SMITH INTERNATIONAL INC554
- 4DIAMOND INNOVATIONS INC243
- 5DIAMICRON INC120
See the full polycrystalline diamond compact manufacturing 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 about PDC manufacturing patents
Who holds the most patents on polycrystalline diamond compact manufacturing?
The assignee ranking in this dataset is led by a single company with 684 of 2,903 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 120. The top 5 assignees together account for 74.8% of all records, and the top 10 reach 85.4%. That level of concentration means a new entrant should expect to negotiate around, or design around, a small number of large estates rather than many small ones.
Why have PDC-related patent filings declined since 2017?
Filings peaked at 120 in 2017 and had fallen to 31 by 2024, a 59% drop from the 2021 level of 75. This pattern is typical of a process technology where the core sintering and cobalt-leaching methods were staked out early, pushing later filing activity toward adjacent applications rather than new core-process claims. Note that 2025 and 2026 counts in any such dataset are understated because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent years should not be read as further decline.
Does PDC patent activity cover applications beyond drill bits?
Yes. While E21B earth and rock drilling appears in 65.7% of the 2,903 records in scope, confirming drill bit cutters as the dominant application, B24D grinding tools and abrasives appear in 31.3%, B22F powder metallurgy in 22.8%, and C22C alloys in 21.5%. Bearings (F16C) and specialty materials (C09K) each appear in around 7% of records, indicating smaller but real filing activity outside drilling.
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 Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Manufacturing 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.