Powder Metallurgy Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentration is modest at the top. the five most active filers hold 13.9% of all 3,235 records in scope, and the next five add only another 6.2 points — most of the field sits in a long tail.
- Filing has cooled from its 2018 peak. 191 records that year against 129 in 2021 and 87 in 2024, a -33% move over that three-year span, though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in under publication lag.
- Alloys and powder processing dominate the IPC mix. C22C and B22F together cover the majority of records, while additive manufacturing (B33Y) and ceramics (C04B) sit in the single digits — a much smaller, more open footprint.
Filing growth compares 2021 (129 records) with 2024 (87) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 3,235 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape draws on 3,235 published records filed or published between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off, captured where powder metallurgy and metal powder processing terms intersect with ore composition, metal recovery, separation reagents, process residue, mechanical property and metal melt language. That intersection biases the corpus toward records that connect powder consolidation and sintering work to upstream metallurgical inputs and downstream mechanical performance, rather than pure process-equipment filings.
Records are grouped into patent families for the assignee ranking, which is the fairer unit here because it removes the effect of continuations and multi-jurisdiction filing strategies that can inflate a single applicant's raw document count.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 3,235 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings ran from 151 in 2017 to a peak of 191 in 2018, then eased to 129 by 2021 and 87 by 2024 — a -33% move over that span. 2025 and 2026 counts (down to 19 for the partial latest year) understate real activity because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; treat the last two years as incomplete, not as a genuine drop-off.
IPC subclass composition
C22C (Alloys) appears on 53.2% of the 3,235 records and B22F (Powder metallurgy) on 45.1%, confirming these two subclasses as the structural core of the field. C22F (non-ferrous treatment, 11.6%), B22D (casting, 8.8%), B33Y (additive manufacturing, 6.2%), C23C (coating, 5.8%), C21D (heat treatment, 4.9%) and C04B (ceramics, 3.7%) each cover a much smaller slice, and because records can carry multiple classes these shares add to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 3,235 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Powder Metallurgy Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about powder metallurgy patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative filing and the most-cited prior art
Binder composition for powder metallurgy, compound for powder metallurgy, and sintered body
Discloses a binder composition for powder metallurgy combining a hydrocarbon-based resin and wax with the compound's metal powder, controlling oxygen content to 20 mass % or less and fixing the resin-to-wax mass ratio between 1 and 2. A preferred variant adds a copolymer built from a cyclic-ether-group monomer and a second monomer, aimed at binder removal behaviour during sintering.Filed by Seiko Epson Corporation, published as US20110314964A1.
View full filing| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160045841A1 | New and improved system for processing various chemicals and materials | 860 |
| 2 | US20100291401A1 | Reticulated mesh arrays and dissimilar array monoliths by additive layered manufacturing using electron and l… | 281 |
| 3 | US20070150068A1 | Gradient porous implant | 279 |
| 4 | US20170014169A1 | Methods, devices, and manufacture of the devices for musculoskeletal reconstructive surgery | 271 |
| 5 | US3852045A | Void metal composite material and method | 258 |
| 6 | US7578851B2 | Gradient porous implant | 235 |
| 7 | WO2014153570A2 | New and improved system for processing various chemicals and materials | 219 |
| 8 | US5169597A | Biocompatible low modulus titanium alloy for medical implants | 216 |
| 9 | US4398952A | Methods of manufacturing gradient composite metallic structures | 214 |
| 10 | US20170170477A1 | Novel materials with extremely durable intercalation of lithium and manufacturing methods thereof | 190 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations inside the searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence, not of current technical relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting a new application in this space.
No single owner dominates the field
The leading assignee holds 128 records and the fifth-ranked holds 53 — a real gap, but not a blocking position. With the top 5 combined at only 13.9% of all records in scope and the top 10 at 20.1%, most of the corpus sits with entities that filed a handful of times each. That favours new entrants: there is room to build a position without displacing an entrenched incumbent.
Volume has cooled from its 2018 peak, not collapsed
Filings peaked at 191 in 2018 and had fallen to 87 by 2024, a -33% move across that three-year window. Several of the more active named filers show flat or falling year-on-year counts in the most recent complete year, consistent with a maturing rather than an expanding filing pattern. The 2025-2026 counts are too early to read as a trend given typical publication lag.
Claim density sits in alloys and powder processing, not in additive routes
C22C and B22F between them anchor the majority of records, meaning alloy composition and basic powder-metallurgy process claims are the most heavily occupied ground. B33Y (additive manufacturing) sits at only 6.2% of records and C04B (ceramics) at 3.7%, both far thinner than the core classes — occupied ground does not mean the technology has stalled, only that claim space there is crowded.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to powder metallurgy patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the room to move sits
The ranking spans 100 companies drawn from the full assignee list behind these 3,235 records — not a top-50 or top-100 cut of a larger universe, but the entire ranked set the dataset returns.
A clear leader, but well short of a blocking share
The top-ranked assignee's 128 records make it the single most active filer in scope, yet that is still a small fraction of the 3,235-record total. Recent-year momentum data shows even actively-filing entities recording flat or declining counts in the latest year, which is more consistent with steady maintenance of a position than an aggressive push for new coverage.
The drop-off past the top ten is steep
Tenth place holds 35 records against a leader at 128 — a fall of well over half moving down just ten positions. Below that, the ranking runs through 100 companies with counts that keep shrinking, indicating a fragmented base of applicants each protecting a narrow slice rather than a small set of firms controlling the field.
Joint filing is limited and concentrated in a few relationships
Only ten co-assignee pairings appear across the corpus, and the strongest of them link a corporate parent to an affiliated sintered-alloy subsidiary or to individual named inventors. That pattern suggests most filing here happens inside a single corporate entity rather than through cross-company joint development, at least at the patenting stage.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Central South University | 1 | -50% |
| General Electric Company | 0 | -100% |
| Alcoa Inc. | 0 | — |
| Seiko Epson Corporation | 0 | — |
| Baker Hughes Holdings LLC | 0 | — |
| Lyten, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Desktop Metal, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Arconic Technologies LLC | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this from here
The dataset points to a fragmented field with a thin additive-manufacturing footprint and a filing pace that has cooled from its 2018 high without disappearing.
Check freedom-to-operate against the core classes first
Because C22C and B22F carry the bulk of claim density, any new alloy-composition or powder-consolidation filing should be checked against those classes before drafting, not against the thinner adjacent branches.
Run a freedom-to-operate searchDraft around the under-claimed branches
Additive-manufacturing feedstock claims and binder-removal chemistry sit well below the core classes in filing density, which leaves more room for a first-mover claim structured around those specifics.
Explore white space with Patsnap EurekaCommon questions about the powder metallurgy patent landscape
The dataset ranks 100 assignees by patent family count, with the top-ranked filer holding 128 records against 3,235 total records in scope. The top 5 combined hold 13.9% of all records and the top 10 combined hold 20.1%, meaning the field is led by a small number of active filers but is not dominated by them. Most of the ranking is made up of companies and institutions with much smaller counts, so a new entrant is not up against a single blocking incumbent.
Filing peaked at 191 records in 2018, then eased to 129 by 2021 and 87 by 2024, a -33% change across that three-year window. Counts for 2025 and 2026 look much lower still, but that is expected: publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so the most recent one to two years are always undercounted at the time of any search. Read the trend as a cooling from a 2018 high rather than a collapse in activity.
C22C (alloys) appears on 53.2% of the 3,235 records and B22F (powder metallurgy processing) on 45.1%, making these two IPC subclasses the structural core of the field. Non-ferrous metal treatment, casting, additive manufacturing, coating, heat treatment and ceramics each cover a much smaller share, from roughly 12% down to under 4%. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100% and should not be read as parts of a whole.
The classes with the thinnest coverage relative to the core alloy and processing classes are additive manufacturing (B33Y, 6.2% of records) and ceramics, cement and refractories (C04B, 3.7% of records). Within those, feedstock-specific additive manufacturing claims and binder-removal chemistry for sintered bodies show up as narrower, less-occupied sub-areas in this corpus. Thin coverage does not guarantee an easy grant, but it does indicate less prior art density to search and design around compared with core alloy-composition claims.
US20110314964A1 is a Seiko Epson Corporation filing covering a binder composition for powder metallurgy that combines a hydrocarbon-based resin and wax with metal powder, specifying an oxygen content ceiling and a resin-to-wax mass ratio. It also describes a preferred variant using a copolymer built from a cyclic-ether-group monomer. Anyone formulating a binder system for metal-powder compounds with a similar resin-wax ratio and oxygen-control approach should review this filing's claims specifically, since it addresses a fairly narrow and well-defined formulation space.
Research Powder Metallurgy Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole powder metallurgy patent landscape corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.