USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

Nippon Steel Corporation

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,289 granted patents across 157 technology areas, active 2017–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: C22C (ALLOYS).

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

1,289

Total patents granted

157

CPC technology areas

9.3

Avg claims per patent

+840%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Nippon holds 1,289 US patents across 157 technology areas, rank #338 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#338
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 2%
by Innovation Score (62.9/100): 9.3
avg claims per patent: +840%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Nippon Steel Corporation has been granted 1,289 US utility patents between 2017 and 2025, placing Nippon Steel Corporation at rank #338 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 157 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 9.3 claims per patent with primary concentration in C22C (ALLOYS). As a Foreign Corporation, Nippon Steel Corporation is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Nippon sits between Life Technologies Corporation (1,296 patents, rank #334) and Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha (1,250 patents, rank #342) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 62.9/100 blends portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Filing cadence tells the strategic story. Between 2020 and 2025 the company received 1,165 grants, compared with 124 in the 2015–2019 window, a +840% shift in five-year velocity. An acceleration of this magnitude signals aggressive R&D investment and expanding technical ambition. The Foreign Corporation classification further shapes interpretation, since corporate, government, and individual filers pursue patents for materially different reasons.

Claim depth and technology breadth together indicate competitive posture. Nippon Steel Corporation's 9.3 average claims per patent suggests focused, narrowly drawn claims typical of single-invention filings, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Nippon Steel Corporation against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Life

1,296
Yamaha

1,296
Google Technology…

1,294
Makita

1,292
Nippon Steel ◀

1,289
SZ DJI Technology

1,268
Edwards Lifescien…

1,265
The Trustees of t…

1,264
Terumo

1,250

What this shows Nippon holds 1,289 patents at rank #338, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Nippon

By rank, the assignees closest to #338 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in C22C (Alloys)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in Nippon's primary technology class.

Nippon's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

63 Top 2% higher than 98% of 50,000 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2017–2025

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2017–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

Nippon Steel Corporation patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2017	1	0.1%
2019	123	9.5%
2020	224	17.4%
2021	182	14.1%
2022	207	16.1%
2023	148	11.5%
2024	246	19.1%
2025	158	12.3%

Which technologies does Nippon Steel Corporation patent most?

C22C - ALLOYS 691

C21D - MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF FERROUS METALS; GENERAL DEVICES FOR HEAT TREATMENT OF FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS METALS OR ALLOYS; MAKING METAL MALLEABLE, e.g. BY DECARBURISATION OR TEMPERING 616

C23C - COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL 357

B32B - LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM 244

B21D - WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL 195

H01F - MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES 167

Y10T - TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION 121

Y02P - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS 107

B23K - SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM 106

B62D - MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS 102

F16L - PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL 99

C25D - PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR 91

B21B - ROLLING OF METAL 76

E21B - EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS 68

B22D - CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES 58

Top 15 of 157 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Simple

Velocity Accelerating

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#338

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

62.9 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many patents does Nippon Steel Corporation hold?

Nippon Steel Corporation holds 1,289 US granted patents filed between 2017 and 2025, spanning 157 technology areas.

What is Nippon Steel Corporation's Innovation Score?

Nippon Steel Corporation has an Innovation Score of 62.9 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Nippon Steel Corporation focus on?

Nippon Steel Corporation's top technology area is C22C (ALLOYS) with 691 patents. The company has filed patents in 157 CPC subclasses total.

Is Nippon Steel Corporation's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Nippon Steel Corporation's recent filing velocity is +840% compared to the prior five-year period. This indicates accelerating innovation.

What does claim depth mean for Nippon Steel Corporation's patents?

Nippon Steel Corporation's patents average 9.3 claims each. This is relatively simple claim structure, typical for focused inventions.

How is the Nippon Steel Corporation patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

How to use this portfolio

Nippon's 1,289 grants land it in the top 2% by Innovation Score, but volume alone doesn't tell you where the strength sits.

Read that count against the largest US assignees before treating it as dominance - Nippon ranks #338 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in C22C - see who else leads that technology area. C22C leaders
Check what the four-part Innovation Score actually rewards before comparing it to another company. How the score works

Patent counts and the Innovation Score measure patenting activity, not commercial success or the legal strength of any patent. Many patents are filed defensively. Verify the status of an individual patent against official USPTO records.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.