Stereolithography Polymer Printing Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
- Filings peaked in 2021 at 27 and have plateaued since, pointing to an occupied rather than expanding claim space across the 144 families tracked.
- B33Y and B29C anchor over 130 records each, while adjacent chemistry and photolithography classes carry far fewer, marking the clearest under-claimed branches.
- The most-cited records split evenly between resin formulation and process hardware, with the broadest process claims already jointly held across university and chemical-supplier co-filings.
A claim space built on two IPC codes
Stereolithography polymer printing patents concentrate almost entirely in two IPC codes, B33Y for additive manufacturing and B29C for plastics shaping, which together appear in the overwhelming majority of the 144 families tracked here. Layered on top of that structural core is a thinner spread of polymer-chemistry classes covering vinyl and condensation polymers, additives, and finished compositions, plus smaller pockets touching medicinal preparations and photolithography. The most-cited records split evenly between resin-formulation claims and cure-process hardware claims, which is the clearest signal of where influence in this field actually sits.
Filing activity rose steadily through the late 2010s, peaked in 2021, and has since plateaued and declined — a pattern consistent with a claim space that filled in quickly around a defined set of resin chemistries and vat-cure mechanisms rather than one still being actively staked out. Publication lag means the most recent year's count is necessarily incomplete, but the multi-year plateau before the drop-off is a real signal about where the field's momentum has gone.
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Filing trends and technology composition
The 144 families in this dataset span a decade of activity, with filing counts and IPC composition showing where claim density has actually built up rather than where the technology merely gets discussed.
Filings peaked in 2021 and have not recovered
Annual filings rose from 17 in 2017 to a peak of 27 in 2021, held near that level through 2022, then declined. The most recent year is partial and will understate true 2026 activity once publication catches up, but the multi-year plateau after 2021 points to a maturing rather than accelerating claim landscape.
Claims cluster in two shaping codes, then thin out fast
B33Y (additive manufacturing) and B29C (plastics shaping) each appear in over 130 of the 144 records, confirming these as the structural core of the dataset. Beyond that core, polymer chemistry classes (C08F, C08G, C08K, C08L) and adjacent fields like medicinal preparations and photolithography carry far fewer records each, marking them as the thinner, less-contested branches of the technology.
Shares are the percentage of the 144 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Stereolithography Polymer Printing with Eureka
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Try EurekaThe records shaping this claim space
Offset layer slicing and offset layer forming of vat photopolymerization additive manufactured parts
A method of additive manufacturing a part via vat photopolymerization (VPP) includes irradiating a first material through a first transparent wall of a first material tank and forming a first section of an nth layer of the part on a platform, positioning the platform with the first section of the nth layer in a second material tank with a distance between the first section of the nth layer and a second transparent wall, and irradiating a second material such that a second section of the nth layer of the part is formed on the platform adjacent to the first section of the nth layer. The method repeats forming first and second sections of additional layers until a predetermined number of total layers is reached.Granted to Ford Global Technologies on 2023-10-24; blocks within-layer, dual-tank multi-material sequencing specifically.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20210229364A1 | Stereolithography with micron scale control of properties | 20 |
| 2 | WO2018080397A1 | A resin formulation and uses thereof | 20 |
| 3 | WO2020198404A1 | Synthesis and 3D printing of photocurable colloids | 18 |
| 4 | US20170322487A1 | SLA resins and methods of making and using the same | 13 |
| 5 | US20200171740A1 | Vat Photopolymerization Additive Manufacturing of Multi-Material Parts | 12 |
| 6 | US20220251250A1 | Photocurable resin composition with low shrinkage and high accuracy for use in additive manufacturing process… | 11 |
| 7 | WO2020064522A1 | Photocurable composition for use in 3D printing | 10 |
| 8 | US20220088851A1 | Synthesis and 3D printing of photocurable colloids | 9 |
| 9 | US20220143906A1 | Systems and methods for photopolymerization based additive manufacturing enabled by multiple-wavelength irrad… | 9 |
| 10 | WO2020064523A1 | UV curable composition for use in 3D printing | 7 |
Ranked by citation count within the searched corpus; older records are structurally favoured, so treat this as a map of influence rather than current relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern tells a claims strategist
Reading the trend line, the IPC spread and the citation leaders together shows where the stereolithography polymer-printing claim space has settled and where it hasn't.
Growth flattened after the 2021 peak
Annual filings climbed from 17 in 2017 to 27 in 2021, held near that level through 2022, then declined toward the present. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent year understates true activity, but the multi-year plateau is a real signal, not an artefact.
Two IPC codes carry nearly the whole dataset
B33Y (additive manufacturing) and B29C (plastics shaping) each appear in over 90% of the 144 families, confirming that almost every filing touches the same structural core of build process and material shaping. Anything filed outside that pairing is the exception, not the rule.
Influence splits between resin chemistry and cure control
The two most-cited records in the dataset are a micron-scale cure-control patent and a resin-formulation-and-use patent, both cited 20 times. That even split confirms neither the chemistry side nor the process side has a monopoly on influence within this corpus.
Broad process claims are already jointly held
Only three co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, but the strongest pairing, a university IP office and a specialty polymers supplier, spans six shared filings. That concentration means some of the broadest cure-control claim territory cannot be licensed from a single party.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to stereolithography polymer printing, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc. | Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC | 6 |
| AXTRA3D INC | ZITELLI GIANNI | 5 |
| AXTRA3D INC | GIANNI ZITELLI | 1 |
With only three recorded co-assignee pairs across 144 families, collaborative filing is rare in this space; where it exists, it tends to pair an academic IP office with an industrial polymer supplier rather than two hardware makers.
Who holds the core claims, and where the gaps sit
Ownership in this dataset is dispersed rather than dominated by one filer, with a small number of collaborative filings anchoring the broadest process claims and a long tail of single-filing entrants behind them.
University IP offices anchor broad cure-control claims
The strongest co-assignee relationship in the dataset pairs a university's IP office with a specialty polymers supplier across six shared filings, putting some of the broadest cure-process claim territory under joint rather than single-party ownership.
Automotive and industrial players hold process-sequencing claims
The representative record in this dataset, granted to a major automotive manufacturer, covers a specific dual-tank, offset-layer sequencing method for multi-material builds — narrow enough to design around with whole-layer material switching, but a real constraint for within-layer approaches.
Historically active filers have gone quiet
Several of the most established assignees in this space show no filings in the latest tracked year, a pattern consistent across chemical suppliers and universities alike. That flat recent momentum, combined with the post-2021 filing decline, suggests the core claim territory is largely settled.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Tokuyama Dental Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc. | 0 | — |
| BASF SE | 0 | — |
| University of Southern California | 0 | — |
| Technical University of Denmark | 0 | — |
| Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC | 0 | — |
| AXTRA3D INC | 0 | — |
| University of Pittsburgh – Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The filing plateau and the split between resin and process claims both point to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is defensive clearance or new filing strategy.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on within-layer multi-material sequencing
The representative record's dual-tank, offset-layer method is the narrowest and clearest process claim in the dataset. Anyone building a multi-material VPP process should check against it before committing to a within-layer switching architecture.
Check claim scope in EurekaMap the resin-formulation citation leaders against your own chemistry
The two most-cited records in this dataset, one on micron-scale cure control and one on resin formulation, define the broadest claim territory in the field. Comparing a new formulation against both is a faster clearance step than reviewing the full 144-family set.
Compare formulations in EurekaEvaluate the under-claimed adjacent branches before the next filing wave
Medicinal-preparation and photolithography-adjacent classes remain thin relative to the additive-manufacturing core. Filing there now, while the plateau holds, has a better chance of establishing clean priority than re-entering the crowded resin or process core.
Explore white space in EurekaFrequently asked questions
Stereolithography polymer printing, often grouped with vat photopolymerization and DLP printing, cures liquid photopolymer resin layer by layer using light rather than heat or extrusion. Patent filings in this space split between resin-formulation claims (monomers, photoinitiators, additive packages) and process-hardware claims (vat geometry, layer offsetting, multi-material tank switching). This is distinct from filament-extrusion or powder-bed patent families, which sit in different IPC codes and involve different chemistry and mechanical claims.
Filing activity in this dataset is spread across universities, specialty chemical suppliers, and hardware makers rather than concentrated in one dominant player, with a long tail of single-filing entrants behind the most active assignees. Co-assignee filings, such as the pairing between a university IP office and a specialty polymers supplier, show some collaborative ownership of broader process claims. Recent-year momentum has gone flat for most of the historically active assignees, which suggests the field is in a consolidation phase rather than an expansion phase.
The thinnest overlaps with the additive-manufacturing core in this dataset are medicinal-preparation chemistry and photolithography-adjacent photoresist science, both under 20 supporting records against a core of over 130. These sit next to dense claim territory without being crowded themselves, making them plausible filing targets for a formulation or resin-exposure claim that has not already been staked out. Under-claimed does not mean unpatented elsewhere, so a freedom-to-operate check against adjacent fields is still necessary before filing.
US11794404B2, assigned to Ford Global Technologies and granted in October 2023, covers a dual-tank offset-layer method for building multi-material parts in a single vat-photopolymerization run: irradiating one material through a transparent tank wall, repositioning the platform into a second tank at a set standoff distance, then irradiating a second material to complete the same layer. It blocks that specific within-layer, dual-tank sequencing approach to multi-material builds. It does not block single-material printing or multi-material processes that switch materials between whole layers rather than within one.
Filings rose from 17 in 2017 to a peak of 27 in 2021, then plateaued through 2022 before declining, and the most recent year's count is still partial due to normal publication lag of roughly 18 months. Taken together this points to a technology whose core claim space is largely occupied rather than one still in a land-grab phase. New activity is more likely to appear in narrower formulation or adjacent-field claims than in broad process patents.
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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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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.