Company patents
JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation
JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation's patent strategy shows a surprising and significant decline across nearly all categories, with major areas like Coating & Surface Treatment (29.2% of portfolio), Alloys (25.0%), and Batteries & Fuel Cells (22.9%) experiencing sharp drops of over 60% year-over-year in 2024 and further declines in 2025, indicating a broad shift in R&D focus or a strategic divestment from these previously core areas.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
48 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 19 themes
Development of novel material compositions, thin-film deposition techniques, and surface treatments for recording layers, lubricants, and protective coatings to improve data density, durability, and magnetic or optical properties.
Techniques for forming thin films of metal oxides or related metal compounds on substrates, often using solution-based methods, for applications in electronics, optics, or specialized coatings.
Processes and apparatus for disassembling spent batteries and recovering valuable materials (e.g., metals, electrolytes, plastics) through mechanical, chemical, or electrochemical methods for reuse or sustainable disposal.
Methods and compositions for applying metallic or alloy layers to a substrate, or modifying the surface of an alloy, to impart specific functional properties such as corrosion resistance, wear resistance, electrical insulation, or improved adhesion, without altering the bulk properties significantly.
Large-scale processes for synthesizing, purifying, or recycling various industrial metal compounds, including sulphides, hydroxides, and sulfates, often involving chemical reactions, crystallization, or electromembrane processes.
Focuses on the composition, crystal structure, and synthesis methods of positive electrode active materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, often involving complex metal oxides of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium.
Techniques and methodologies for fabricating semiconductor devices, including etching, deposition, annealing, isolation, and doping steps, aimed at improving yield, performance, or enabling new structures.
Methods for depositing thin films with controlled conformality, thickness, and material properties, including selective deposition on specific areas, often using atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or epitaxial growth.
Development and processing of metal powders with specific magnetic properties, including soft magnetic alloys, permanent magnet materials, and insulated powders for electronic components, often involving precise control of particle size, morphology, and composition.
Techniques for building three-dimensional metal objects layer-by-layer using metal powders, including powder bed fusion, binder jetting, and directed energy deposition. This theme encompasses process mechanics, equipment design, and operational control for AM systems.
Composite materials where a metallic matrix is reinforced with a second phase (e.g., ceramic particles, carbon nanotubes, diamond grains) to significantly enhance properties like hardness, wear resistance, stiffness, or strength, often used in cutting tools, wear parts, or structural applications.
Design and engineering of specialized components within deposition systems, such as heaters, targets, susceptors, and chamber walls, to achieve precise control over process parameters like temperature, material flux, and plasma characteristics.
Methods and systems for real-time monitoring and control of coating processes or chamber cleaning, utilizing sensor data (e.g., thermal, pressure, optical) and predictive models to ensure quality and optimize efficiency.
Active anode materials and manufacturing techniques for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, including silicon-carbon composites, graphite, lithium-metal anodes, and electrode coating processes that improve capacity, cycle life, and rate capability.
Process and equipment for producing solid-state battery cells, including solid electrolyte synthesis (sulfide/oxide/polymer), thin-film deposition, lamination, sintering, dry-electrode fabrication, and stacking under controlled atmosphere.
Production of materials where properties vary continuously or discontinuously through the volume, often achieved by combining different powders or applying specialized coatings like thermal sprays to enhance surface hardness, wear resistance, or thermal properties.
Innovations in the mechanical and electromagnetic design of read/write heads, sliders, suspension assemblies, and actuator systems for hard disk drives, focusing on precision, stability, and data integrity.
Computational methods and design principles for generating optimized geometries, internal structures (e.g., lattices, minimal surfaces), or functional features that are specifically enabled or enhanced by the capabilities of additive manufacturing.
Thin, multi-layered films and structures specifically designed for electronic applications, including flexible substrates for devices, display panel components, and active material layers for battery electrodes.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 195