Wire EDM Precision Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 60.7% concentration. the top 5 of 24 ranked assignees combine for 34 of the 56 records in scope, a single-leader field with a long tail below it.
- Filing has cooled from its peak. 2017 was the high point at 10 records, and complete-year filings fell from 4 in 2021 to 0 in 2024 (-100%).
- One subclass dominates the claim map. B23H (electro/chemical machining) covers 80.4% of the 56 records; every other class sits at 8.9% or below.
Filing growth compares 2021 (4 records) with 2024 (0) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 56 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape draws on 56 published records matching wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) claims tied to wire behaviour: wire vibration, lag, corner error, multiple cutting passes, wire consumption, taper cutting and surface finish. Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, with filings visible from 2017 onward. The corpus is dominated by B23H (electro/chemical machining) at 80.4% of records, with smaller pockets touching grinding, powder metallurgy, welding and even dentistry and clay/cement shaping — evidence that wire-EDM wire-behaviour claims occasionally cross into adjacent manufacturing domains rather than staying confined to machine-tool classes.
Filing activity is uneven year to year rather than steadily rising: the peak of 10 records came in 2017, and the most recent complete year (2024) recorded none. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not be read as a slowdown on their own.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 56-record corpus: how filings moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
A 2017 peak followed by an uneven decline
Filings rose to 10 in 2017, the high point of the series, then declined unevenly. Complete-year data shows a drop from 4 records in 2021 to 0 in 2024, a -100% move over that three-year span. Readers should treat 2025 and 2026 as incomplete given the typical 18-month publication lag, not as confirmation the field has gone quiet.
B23H dominates; the rest is scattered
B23H (electro/chemical machining) appears in 80.4% of the 56 records, far ahead of B28B and G05B at 8.9% each, and A61C, B21C and B24B at 7.1% each. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares sum past 100% — the pattern to read is that core machining claims are dense while adjacent classes (dentistry, extrusion, grinding, powder metallurgy, welding) each carry only a handful of records.
Shares are the percentage of the 56 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Wire EDM Precision and Wire Behaviour with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about wire edm precision and wire behaviour and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this corpus
Method and device for wire electrical discharge machining (US20210170513A1, AGIE Charmilles SA, 2021-06-10)
The filing controls a WEDM process by adapting wire travelling speed in-process while cutting. It determines the position of each discharge along the engagement line between wire and workpiece, estimates the size of the crater each discharge causes at the wire, and builds a real-time wire-wearing model from that data to adjust travelling speed accordingly.Abstract condensed from the published filing; see the full record for complete claim language.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4798929A | Wire electric discharge machining apparatus | 63 |
| 2 | US20130043218A1 | Multi-wire cutting for efficient magnet machining | 20 |
| 3 | EP3446820A1 | Wire electrical discharge machining method | 15 |
| 4 | US20180229320A1 | Wire electrical discharge machining apparatus and method of manufacturing semiconductor wafer | 13 |
| 5 | US20190061031A1 | Wire Electrical Discharge Machining Method | 11 |
| 6 | US20140330423A1 | Wire electrical discharge machining apparatus | 10 |
| 7 | US8591287B2 | Methods of fabricating a honeycomb extrusion die from a die body | 9 |
| 8 | US20120000889A1 | Electrode wire for wire electrical discharge machining, method for manufacturing the same, and method for ele… | 8 |
| 9 | US20120045973A1 | Methods of fabricating a honeycomb extrusion die from a die body | 8 |
| 10 | CN104342277A | 一种水基线切割加工工作液及其制备方法 | 7 |
Citation counts favour older records simply by virtue of being searchable longer; treat them as a signal of influence within this corpus, not as a ranking of current importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the data means for filing strategy
Three read-outs from the concentration, trend and citation figures above.
A single leader, then a long tail
The leading assignee holds 13 records on its own, and the top 5 of 24 ranked assignees combine for 34 records — 60.7% of the 56 in scope. The remaining 19 ranked assignees, plus unranked single-filers, split the rest thinly. New entrants are more likely to find open ground by avoiding direct claim overlap with the leader than by out-filing the field.
Growth has stalled, not accelerated
Filing growth over the last complete three-year window is -100%: from 4 records in 2021 to 0 in 2024. Combined with 2017 being the all-time peak at 10, this reads as a field past an early filing wave rather than one in an active build-up phase. Any apparent uptick in 2025-2026 data is likely a publication-lag artefact and should be confirmed against later data pulls.
Core machining claims are dense; adjacent classes are thin
B23H carries the overwhelming majority of records, meaning core wire-EDM machining claims — wire speed control, discharge positioning, wear modelling — sit on denser prior art. The classes at 7-9% (grinding, extrusion, dentistry, control systems, clay/cement shaping) each have only a handful of records, which is where adjacent-application claims are more likely to still be open.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to wire edm precision and wire behaviour, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the room to move sits
The ranking spans 24 companies; concentration is heavy at the top with a long tail of low-volume filers below fifth place (2 records) and tenth place (2 records).
One assignee sets the pace
The top-ranked assignee holds 13 of the 56 records, roughly a quarter of the corpus on its own. Recent-year momentum data shows this and other leading assignees recording 0 filings in the latest year, consistent with the broader 2021-2024 decline rather than a leader pulling further ahead.
A flat drop-off after the leader
Fifth place and tenth place both sit at 2 records, meaning the gap between the leader and the rest of the ranked field is steep and the mid-field itself is fairly flat. Co-assignee pairs in the data — repeated collaborations such as GF Machining Solutions Services SA working with a named individual filer, or paired individual inventors — point to small, stable filing teams rather than large distributed R&D groups.
Filing is concentrated in the US and Europe
The United States (21) and the European Patent Office (17) account for the bulk of receiving-office activity, with India (9), China (3), Austria (2) and Italy (2) trailing well behind. For teams weighing where to seek protection, US and EPO filings face the densest prior art in this corpus; India shows meaningful but thinner activity.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Agie Charmilles SA | 0 | — |
| Corning Inc. | 0 | — |
| Mitsubishi Electric Corp. | 0 | — |
| Suzhou Xiangxiexuan Surface Engineering Technology Consulting Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Thermocompact SA | 0 | — |
| Oki Electric Cable Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. | 0 | — |
| Indian Institute of Technology Indore | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above describe the corpus as it stands at the 2026-07-31 cut-off. Two follow-ups turn this into a working strategy.
Check claim overlap before filing
With 80.4% of records in B23H, a new filing on core wire-speed or discharge-control claims needs a freedom-to-operate check against the leading assignee's portfolio specifically, not just the class as a whole.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack whether 2025-2026 filings recover
The -100% drop from 2021 to 2024 is a complete-year figure; whether the field is genuinely winding down or simply under-published depends on filings still arriving for 2025 and 2026.
Monitor filing trends in EurekaCommon questions on wire EDM precision patents
In this 56-record corpus, one assignee leads with 13 records, well ahead of the rest of the field. The top 5 of 24 ranked assignees together account for 34 records, or 60.7% of all records in scope, so the field is top-heavy rather than evenly spread. Below the leader, filing counts drop off quickly, with fifth place and tenth place both holding only 2 records each, indicating a long tail of smaller filers rather than several similarly sized competitors.
Based on complete-year data, filing has fallen rather than grown: from 4 records in 2021 to 0 records in 2024, a -100% change over that span. The overall peak in the dataset was 2017, with 10 records that year. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so it is too early to read those years as a genuine recovery or continued decline.
The large majority of records, 80.4% of the 56 in scope, fall under IPC subclass B23H, which covers electro-chemical and electro-discharge machining. Smaller shares touch grinding and polishing, control systems, metal extrusion and drawing, dentistry, powder metallurgy, welding, and clay/cement shaping equipment, each at 8.9% or below. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100%, but the pattern is clear: core machining claims are dense and adjacent applications are comparatively lightly claimed.
US20210170513A1, filed by AGIE Charmilles SA and published 2021-06-10, covers a method for adapting wire travelling speed in-process during wire EDM cutting. It works by locating each discharge along the engagement line between wire and workpiece, estimating the crater each discharge causes at the wire, and building a real-time wire-wearing model to drive the speed adjustment. Anyone building an in-process wire-speed control scheme tied to discharge-position or wire-wear modelling should review this filing's exact claim scope before designing a similar control loop.
Based on IPC composition, the areas outside core B23H machining claims each carry only a handful of records, including dental applications of wire wear modelling, taper-cutting control on powder-metallurgy workpieces, and real-time wire-consumption sensing. These pockets sit at 7.1% or less of the 56-record corpus, suggesting less-crowded claim space than the dominant electro-discharge machining subclass. That said, low record counts can also reflect a genuinely small addressable niche, so any filing decision should be paired with a freedom-to-operate check specific to the sub-area.
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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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
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.