Slag Chemistry and Hot Metal Quality Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
Slag Chemistry and Hot Metal Quality Patents
Concentrated at the top. The five most active filers account for 190 of 605 records in scope (31.4%), with a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants behind them. Filings rose to a peak of 37 records in 2020, then fell to 5 by 2024 — a -69% change over that three-year span. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts (down to 2 in 2026) are still incomplete and should not be read as a continuation of the decline.
- 1TATA STEEL LTD59
- 2JFE STEEL CORP43
- 3NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION41
- 4KOBE STEEL LTD25
- 5MINTEK22
See the full slag chemistry and hot metal quality 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 on this landscape
Who holds the most patents on slag chemistry and hot metal quality?
The ranked leader in this dataset holds 59 of 605 records, well ahead of the fifth-placed assignee at 22 and tenth place at 18. The top five combined account for 190 records (31.4% of all 605 in scope), and the top ten for 286 (47.3%). Beyond that, coverage spreads across a long tail of assignees with only a handful of filings each, so competitive pressure outside the leading group is comparatively light.
Is patent filing in this field growing or shrinking?
Filing peaked at 37 records in 2020 and had fallen to 5 by 2024, a -69% change across that three-year span. That said, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the lower counts seen in 2025 and 2026 are provisional and should not yet be read as confirmation the decline is continuing. 2024 is the most recent year that can be treated as a complete picture.
Which patent classes cover blast furnace slag and hot metal patents?
The three largest IPC subclasses are C22B (metal extraction and refining, 35.9% of the 605 records), C21C (steelmaking, 34.7%) and C21B (blast furnace iron production, 34.4%) — each covering roughly a third of the corpus, since a single record can carry more than one class. Refractories and cement-related claims (C04B) sit further behind at 10.7%, with alloys, furnace instrumentation and material testing classes each under 5%.
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 Slag Chemistry and Hot Metal Quality 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.