Rolling Bearing Surface/Coating Interface Patent Snapshot
NSK Ltd holds a commanding lead among the largest filers in rolling bearing surface and coating interface technology, with the top five filers collectively accounting for 59% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output. The field is in a decline phase following a 2018 peak, with filing volume having eased substantially in subsequent years.
NSK leads a concentrated field dominated by Japanese bearing specialists
NSK Ltd ranks first among all filers, followed by NTN Corp in second place and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd in third — a ranking that reflects the strong involvement of both dedicated bearing manufacturers and automotive OEMs in this technology space.
The top five filers — NSK Ltd, NTN Corp, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd, OC Oerlikon Balzers AG, and AB SKF — together account for 59% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined patent records, indicating a moderately concentrated visible assignee structure with a meaningful tier gap between the leaders and the rest of the field.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NSK Ltd. | 26 | |
| 2 | NTN Corporation | 16 | |
| 3 | Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | 5 | |
| 4 | OC Oerlikon Balzers AG | 4 | |
| 5 | AB SKF | 4 | |
| 6 | The Timken Company | 3 | |
| 7 | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | 3 | |
| 8 | Element Six Ltd. | 3 | |
| 9 | Element Six GmbH | 3 | |
| 10 | Yanbo Additive Manufacturing (Xuzhou) Technology Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. | 2 | |
| 12 | General Electric Company | 2 | |
| 13 | Element Six (UK) Ltd. | 2 | |
| 14 | Kiyonobu Wake | 2 | |
| 15 | SCHAEFFLER TECHNOLOGIES AG & CO KG | 1 | |
| 16 | United States Government | 1 | |
| 17 | Caterpillar Inc. | 1 | |
| 18 | Redouane El Bouchikhy | 1 | |
| 19 | Safran Transmission Systems | 1 | |
| 20 | Glyco-Metall-Werke Glyco B.V. & Co. KG | 1 |
The dominance of NSK Ltd and NTN Corp signals that core bearing manufacturers retain the strongest intellectual property positions in surface and coating interface innovation, while the presence of Oerlikon and SKF indicates that coating-specialist and diversified bearing firms also maintain relevant portfolios.
Filings from approximately 2024 onward should be treated as under-counted due to standard patent publication lags; apparent absence of activity in the most recent period does not necessarily reflect a true cessation of R&D.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 and has since eased; F16C and C23C dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that reached its highest single-year volume in 2018 and has since contracted, while the technology composition chart shows that bearing-specific and coating-deposition classes together account for the overwhelming majority of classified records.
Annual filing trend
A notable spike appears in 2018 followed by near-zero annual volumes through 2023 and 2024; 2025 shows a partial recovery but should be treated as incomplete given publication lag. The overall trajectory confirms the lifecycle assessment of a field past its peak.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F16C (Shafts, bearings and couplings) and C23C (Coating and surface deposition) are the two visible IPC branches, together representing the core of activity. Secondary branches — including C22C (Alloys), C21D (Heat treatment of metals), and C10M (Lubricants) — each hold smaller but non-trivial shares, pointing to multidisciplinary approaches combining materials science with surface engineering.
↗ 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.
Rolling bearing
A rolling bearing used in a system including an automotive power train and a peripheral auxiliary equipment of the power train, and in a compressor. The rolling bearing comprises a first race and a second race. A rolling element is rotatably disposed between the first and second races. A film whose main component is a metal selected from the group… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rolling bearing | 61 |
| 2 | Rolling bearing | 52 |
| 3 | Roller elements for roller bearing | 48 |
| 4 | Rolling sliding member and rolling apparatus | 43 |
| 5 | Rolling elements for rolling bearing | 34 |
| 6 | Bearing assemblies, roller bearing units, races, m… | 32 |
| 7 | Rolling sliding member and rolling apparatus | 32 |
| 8 | Rolling sliding member and its manufacturing metho… | 31 |
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.
NSK Ltd
NSK Ltd is the top-ranked applicant with 26 patent records. Its technology focus is concentrated in F16C 33 (bearing components and materials), C23C 14 (physical vapour deposition and related coating processes), and F16C 35 (bearing mounting and housing), indicating an integrated approach that spans bearing design through to hard-coating application. No momentum data is available for trajectory assessment.
patent records: 26NTN Corp
NTN Corp ranks second with 16 patent records. Its portfolio emphasises F16C 33 (bearing components), F16C 19 (rolling-contact bearings), and C21D 1 (heat treatment of metals), suggesting a materials-and-thermal-processing approach to surface performance rather than a coating-deposition-first strategy. This distinguishes NTN Corp from NSK Ltd’s stronger emphasis on PVD coating processes. No momentum data is available for trajectory assessment.
patent records: 16Frequently asked questions
NSK Ltd is the top-ranked applicant by patent record count in this technology scope, followed by NTN Corp in second place and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd in third.
The top five filers — NSK Ltd, NTN Corp, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd, OC Oerlikon Balzers AG, and AB SKF — together account for 59% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined patent records, indicating a moderately concentrated field with a clear tier gap between the leaders and mid-ranked applicants.
The field is classified as Decline. Annual filing volume peaked in 2018 and has eased back substantially in subsequent years, suggesting that broad platform-level innovation in core bearing surface and coating approaches has matured.
The United States leads by patent record count, followed by Europe (EPO) and Japan. The United Kingdom, China, Germany, and WIPO (PCT) also feature in the filing distribution, reflecting the global commercial relevance of this technology across automotive, industrial, and aerospace sectors.
The strongest documented collaboration is between Nissan Motor Co. Ltd and Nippon Parkering Co. Ltd, with three co-filed records. Additional co-filing relationships exist between Honda Motor Co. Ltd and Kobayashi & Co. Ltd, and between NTN Corp and NTN Toyo Bearing Co. Ltd. The pattern suggests automotive OEMs are partnering with specialist surface-treatment firms.
C22C (Alloys) and C21D (Heat treatment of metals) are the largest lower-share branches adjacent to the visible F16C and C23C core, with 14 and 10 patent records respectively. C10M (Lubricants), C01B (Non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds), and B32B (Layered products and laminates) are also comparatively sparse and may represent areas where the intersection with bearing surface engineering is less fully claimed.
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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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