Skin Pass and Temper Rolling Patents: Who Holds the Claims, and Where Filing Has Slowed
Filing is heavily concentrated: the ranked leaders' top 5 assignees account for 63.7% of all 1,909 records, and the top 10 for 79.6%. Filings rose from 31 in 2017 to a peak of 106 in 2019, then fell steadily; the 2021-to-2024 span shows a 75% decline, from 69 to 17 filings. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as a continued drop.
- 1NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION426
- 2JFE STEEL CORP393
- 3TATA STEEL IJMUIDEN BV180
- 4KAWASAKI STEEL CORP115
- 5POHANG IRON & STEEL CO LTD102
See the full skin pass and temper rolling 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
Frequently asked questions
What is temper rolling used for in steel manufacturing?
Temper rolling, also called skin pass rolling, applies a light final reduction to cold-rolled steel strip after annealing to suppress yield point elongation, set surface roughness, and correct strip shape. It is a finishing step rather than a primary reduction process, typically applying only a few percent of elongation. The patent evidence in this dataset shows it is most heavily claimed alongside heat treatment (C21D) and alloy composition (C22C) parameters, meaning most patents describe temper rolling as part of a broader compositional or thermal process rather than as a standalone mechanical step.
Who holds the most patents in skin pass and temper rolling technology?
Filing is concentrated among a small group of steelmakers: the top five assignees in the ranked leaders account for 63.7% of the 1,909 records in scope, and the top ten account for 79.6%. This is a highly concentrated field compared to many process technologies, meaning a new entrant should expect to negotiate around a handful of established portfolios rather than a fragmented landscape. Recent-year momentum data shows several of these long-standing leaders filing nothing in the latest year, which points to a settled rather than actively expanding claim position for the largest holders.
Why did temper rolling patent filings decline after 2019?
Filings peaked at 106 in 2019 and fell to 17 by 2024, a decline the evidence confirms as a 75% drop between 2021 and 2024. This pattern is consistent with a claim space where the core process and composition parameters have already been staked out by the leading assignees, reducing the incentive for further filing on the same routes. It does not necessarily mean the underlying technology is obsolete — high filing density earlier in the period means available claim space is occupied, which naturally slows the rate of new filing once the major variations are covered.
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 Skin Pass and Temper Rolling 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.