Sour Service Materials and Corrosion Patents
Concentrated at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 61.7% of all 128 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 83.6% — a small group has occupied most of the claim space. Filing rose to a peak of 16 records in 2018, then eased. Comparing 2021 to 2024 — the last year that can be treated as complete given the ~18-month publication lag — leading filers' output fell 50%, from 4 to 2 records. 2025 and 2026 figures will continue to fill in and should not be read as a further decline.
- 1NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION24
- 2JFE STEEL CORP18
- 3MODUMETAL LLC16
- 4SAUDI ARABIAN OIL CO11
- 5VALLOUREC TUBOS DO BRASIL SA10
See the full sour service materials and corrosion 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 this landscape
Who are the leading patent holders in sour service materials and corrosion?
The ranking covers 28 companies, and it is heavily front-loaded: the leading assignee holds 24 records, more than double the count held by the company in fifth place, which sits at 10. The top 5 assignees together account for 61.7% of all 128 records in scope, and the top 10 account for 83.6%. Beyond that group, filing counts drop quickly into a long tail of narrower filers, so any competitive review should focus first on the handful of companies holding most of the volume.
Is patent filing in this field growing or slowing down?
Filing activity peaked at 16 records in 2018 and has eased since then. Comparing leading filers' output from 2021 to 2024 — the most recent year that can be treated as complete — shows a 50% decline, from 4 records to 2. Figures from 2025 onward will keep rising as publications catch up, since publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so it is too early to call the field in continued decline based on the very latest years alone.
What technology areas make up most of the sour service corrosion patents?
Alloy chemistry, classified under IPC C22C, is the largest single class, appearing in 53.1% of the 128 records in scope. Heat treatment of metals, C21D, follows at 42.2%. Drilling equipment, pipes and fittings, electroplating, and material testing each cover smaller shares, and welding and pump-related claims are the thinnest classes tracked. Because a record can carry more than one IPC class, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
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 Sour Service Materials and Corrosion 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.