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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/wrought-superalloy-forging-and-disc-manufacturing-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · SuperalloysWrought superalloy forging and disc manufacturing patents
- 41.4% concentration. The five leading filers account for 134 of 324 records in scope, with a long tail of single- and low-filing entrants behind them.
- Filing has cooled sharply. Annual filings fell from 4 in 2021 to 1 in 2024, a -75% move over that span, after a 2017 peak of 34.
- Alloy and forging classes dominate. C22C (alloys) and B21J (forging & hammering) each touch over 40% of records, while powder metallurgy and welding classes sit far behind.
324
Published Records
41%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-75%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
EP
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (4 records) with 2024 (1) — 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 324 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 324 published records at the intersection of superalloy forging and disc manufacturing: isothermal and conventional forging routes, grain-size and strain-rate control, die materials, ultrasonic inspection, residual stress management and delta-phase control in nickel-base superalloys. It spans filings from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, with most activity concentrated in the years before publication lag starts to understate the count.
The picture that emerges is one of a mature, narrowly claimed field: a small group of aerospace and materials companies hold the bulk of the filings, the core technology classes (alloy composition, forging process, heat treatment) are heavily worked, and the annual filing rate has declined markedly from its 2017 peak.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Wrought Superalloy Forging and Disc Manufacturing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The Data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 324-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings peaked at 34 in 2017 and have declined since; the 2021-to-2024 span shows a -75% drop (4 to 1 filings). Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the final one or two years in this trend will fill in as more records publish and should not yet be read as a further decline.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C22C (alloys, 46.6% of records) and B21J (forging & hammering, 42.0%) are the two most heavily claimed classes, with C22F (non-ferrous treatment, 40.1%) close behind. Powder metallurgy (B22F, 17.6%), heat treatment (C21D, 12.7%), welding/brazing (B23K, 12.3%), turbine structures (F01D, 11.1%) and forged metal products (B21K, 10.2%) are claimed far less densely. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares sum to well over 100% of the 324 records.
Shares are the percentage of the 324 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Wrought Superalloy Forging and Disc Manufacturing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Representative and most-cited records
Representative Record
Method of inspecting a component and an apparatus for inspecting a component (US7650790B2)
ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
An apparatus for ultrasonically inspecting a component comprises a first ultrasonic transducer for transmitting an ultrasonic signal into a component having rotational symmetry and a second ultrasonic transducer for detecting the reflected, or transmitted, ultrasonic signal. A motor and a turntable produce relative rotation between the rotationally symmetrical component and the first and second transducers, while a carriage and tracks provide relative radial motion to scan the whole of the component's surface. An ultrasonic signal analyzer analyses the detected signal.Assignee: Rolls-Royce plc. Filed as part of the ultrasonic inspection cluster within this dataset; published 2010-01-26.
Most-cited records in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5026520A | Fine grain titanium forgings and a method for their production | 119 |
| 2 | WO2015006447A1 | Methods for producing forged products and other worked products | 115 |
| 3 | US5113583A | Integrally bladed rotor fabrication | 106 |
| 4 | US3988913A | Isothermal metal forming apparatus | 98 |
| 5 | US6832961B2 | Wood-type golf clubhead | 97 |
| 6 | JP1987050429A | Nickel-base casting alloy for hot forging die | 84 |
| 7 | EP1798301A1 | Titanium alloy composite material, method for production of the material, titanium clad material using the ma… | 69 |
| 8 | US5328530A | Hot forging of coarse grain alloys | 58 |
| 9 | US7650790B2 | Method of inspecting a component and an apparatus for inspecting a component | 57 |
| 10 | US7611592B2 | Methods of beta processing titanium alloys | 55 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later work, not a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Wrought Superalloy Forging and Disc Manufacturing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Reading the concentration, trend and citation data together points to a field where the core process claims are largely occupied and the remaining room sits in adjacent, less-worked classes.
Concentration
41.4%
of 324 records held by top 5
The leading tier is narrow
Five assignees hold 134 of the 324 records in scope, and the leader alone accounts for 44 records against a fifth-place figure of 13 - a steep drop-off rather than an even spread. The top 10 combined reach 57.4% of all records, meaning the remaining 60 ranked companies split the rest thinly.
Ranking covers 70 companies, the full set the data endpoint returns.
Filing trend
-75%
2021 to 2024 filings
Activity has cooled from its 2017 peak
Annual filings ran as high as 34 in 2017 and had fallen to 4 by 2021, then to 1 by 2024 - a -75% move over that three-year span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming further decline on their own.
Peak year: 2017 at 34 filings.
Technology mix
46.6%
of records tag C22C (alloys)
Alloy and forging classes carry the claim density
C22C (alloys), B21J (forging & hammering) and C22F (non-ferrous treatment) each cover 40% or more of the 324 records, while powder metallurgy (B22F, 17.6%) and heat treatment (C21D, 12.7%) sit well below. That gap suggests the process core is heavily claimed while several adjacent processing routes are comparatively open.
Shares sum above 100% because records carry multiple IPC codes.
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Co-assignee activity
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Alcoa Inc. | Howmet Aerospace Inc. | 2 |
Co-filing between assignees is rare in this dataset; the strongest pairing recorded is a single co-assignee link between two of the leading filers, indicating that most work here is filed by a single owner rather than jointly developed.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Wrought Superalloy Forging and Disc Manufacturing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who holds the ground, and where it's open
The ranked leaders sit almost entirely in aerospace materials and engine manufacturing, with recent-year filing activity flat across the biggest names - a sign that current owners are defending existing positions rather than expanding them.
Leader
44 records
of 324 in scope
A single filer sets the pace
The top-ranked assignee holds 44 records, well ahead of the fifth-place company at 13 - a gap that signals a dominant filer rather than a tightly bunched leading group.
Based on the 70-company assignee ranking.
Second tier
13 records
fifth-place company
A mid-tier cluster follows the leader
Places two through five hold meaningfully fewer records than the leader but still well above the tenth-place figure of 6, pointing to a small group of aerospace and materials firms with sustained, multi-year filing programmes.
Top 5 combined: 134 records, 41.4% of all records in scope.
Momentum
0 in latest year
across leading assignees
Recent-year filing has gone quiet at the top
Several of the most prolific historical filers show no filings in the latest year of the dataset. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this likely reflects incomplete recent-year data rather than an active pullback, but it also means no single assignee is visibly pulling ahead right now.
Momentum figures cover the most recent filing year in scope.
Filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Proterial, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Alcoa Inc. | 0 | — |
| General Electric Co. | 0 | — |
| United Technologies Corp. | 0 | — |
| Rolls-Royce plc | 0 | — |
| TRW Inc. | 0 | — |
| MTU Aero Engines GmbH | 0 | — |
| Howmet Aerospace Inc. | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Wrought Superalloy Forging and Disc Manufacturing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this
The dataset points to a field with strong claim density at its core and quieter recent activity at the top - the next step is deciding where a new filing or freedom-to-operate check should focus.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leading tier
With 41.4% of records held by five assignees, any new forging-process or grain-control claim should be checked against the top filers' portfolios before drafting.
Run an FTO screen in EurekaExplore the under-claimed branches
Powder metallurgy, delta-phase heat treatment and residual stress management carry lower filing density than the core alloy and forging classes, and may offer more room to claim.
Explore white space in EurekaWatch for the 2025-2026 data catching up
Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the apparent slowdown after 2021 will firm up as more recent-year records publish - worth re-checking in future refreshes.
Track filing trends in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Wrought Superalloy Forging and Disc Manufacturing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on this landscape
The ranked assignee list covers 70 companies, with the leader holding 44 of the 324 records in scope and the fifth-place company holding 13. This is a steep drop-off rather than a tightly bunched field, and the top 5 combined account for 41.4% of all records. The names sitting at the top are established aerospace engine and materials manufacturers with multi-decade filing histories in this space, rather than recent entrants.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 34 records and has declined since, with the 2021-to-2024 span showing a -75% drop from 4 filings to 1. That said, publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one or two years in any trend chart are always undercounted and should not be read as proof of an accelerating decline. The safest read is that activity has cooled substantially from its 2017 peak, with the very latest years still filling in.
Alloy composition (C22C, 46.6% of the 324 records), forging and hammering process (B21J, 42.0%) and non-ferrous metal treatment (C22F, 40.1%) are the three most heavily claimed IPC subclasses. Powder metallurgy, heat treatment, welding/brazing, turbine structures and forged metal products classes each sit well below 20% of records. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100% of the record total.
The comparatively low-density classes - powder metallurgy disc preforms, delta-phase control during heat treatment, post-forge residual stress management, and strain-rate control specific to isothermal die forging - carry a smaller share of the 324 records than the core alloy and forging classes. That does not guarantee an easy grant, but it does mean the claim space is less crowded than the well-worked forging-process and alloy-composition core. Any filing strategy here should still start with a freedom-to-operate check against the leading assignees' existing portfolios.
US7650790B2, assigned to Rolls-Royce plc, covers an apparatus for ultrasonically inspecting rotationally symmetrical components using paired transducers, a turntable for rotation and a carriage-and-track system for radial scanning, together with a signal analyzer. It appears in this dataset because ultrasonic inspection is one of the named technical routes in the search scope alongside forging, grain control and residual stress. It is a representative record for the inspection cluster rather than the single most-cited patent in the set.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Wrought Superalloy Forging and Disc Manufacturing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.