Thin Slab and Strip Casting Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Thin Slab and Strip Casting Patents: Filing Trends and Who Holds the Core Claims
One assignee dominates the ranking. the leader holds 367 of the records tracked against a field of 79 ranked companies, with fifth place at just 16 and tenth at 8 — a steep drop-off from the top. Filings ran from 16 in 2017 to a peak of 21 in 2019, then eased to 4 by 2021 and 2 by 2024 — a documented -50% change over that span. 2025 and 2026 show low counts because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; treat the last two years as incomplete rather than as a continued decline.
- 1NUCOR CORP367
- 2IHI CORP71
- 3BLUESCOPE STEEL LTD70
- 4CASTRIP LLC21
- 5PRIMETALS TECH AUSTRIA GMBH16
See the full thin slab and strip casting 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 thin slab and strip casting patents
Who holds the most patents in thin slab and strip casting?
One assignee leads this dataset with 367 of the 547 records in scope, far ahead of the fifth-ranked company at 16 and tenth at 8. That gap means most competitive analysis in this field has to start with that single portfolio rather than a broad set of rivals. The ranking covers 79 companies in total, so the leader’s share is concentrated at the very top rather than spread evenly.
Is thin slab and strip casting still an active area for new patent filings?
Filing activity has slowed from a peak of 21 records in 2019 to 2 records in 2024, a documented -50% drop between 2021 and 2024. That said, publication typically lags actual filing by about 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures in this dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a continued decline. The pattern through 2024 is best described as a mature, settled core rather than a growing or a dead field.
What technology areas does thin slab and strip casting patent coverage concentrate in?
Metal casting (IPC class B22D) appears in 78.1% of the 547 records, with metal rolling (B21B) at 20.8% and alloy composition (C22C) at 19.9%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%. Control and regulating systems (G05B) and furnace detail accessories (F27D) are the thinnest categories, each under 2% of records, which points to where claim density is lowest.
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 Thin Slab and Strip Casting 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.