Company patents

NIKON SLM SOLUTIONS AG

NIKON SLM SOLUTIONS AG's patent strategy is heavily concentrated in Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) and Powder Metallurgy, representing 97.8% and 89.1% of its portfolio respectively, with both categories showing significant growth in 2025 (50.0% and 53.3% YoY). A surprising emerging focus is Plastics Shaping & Molding, which experienced a remarkable 200.0% YoY growth in 2025, indicating a potential diversification within manufacturing processes, although patent filings across most categories, including these core areas, show a sharp decline so far in 2026.

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.

46 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 8 themes

Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes

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.

Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)Powder MetallurgyPlastics Shaping & Molding
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46since 2023
+56.2%YoY
AM Process Monitoring & Control

Systems and methods for real-time sensing, modeling, and closed-loop control of additive manufacturing parameters to ensure part quality, consistency, and process efficiency. This includes thermal management, atmospheric regulation, and precise material deposition.

Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)Powder MetallurgyIndustrial Control Systems
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24since 2023
+50.0%YoY
Hybrid Additive-Subtractive Manufacturing

Integration of additive manufacturing with subtractive manufacturing (e.g., machining, cutting) or other traditional processes within a single system or workflow to create parts with improved features, surface finish, or material properties, or to enable new manufacturing paradigms.

Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)
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10since 2023
+200.0%YoY
Advanced Magnetic Powder Materials

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.

Powder Metallurgy
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3since 2023
+100.0%YoY
Multi-material Product Integration & Finishing

Techniques for combining multiple materials or layers, often with specialized surface treatments, coatings, or assembly methods, to create functional or aesthetically enhanced plastic articles, including consumer goods and encapsulated electronics.

Plastics Shaping & Molding
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3since 2023
+100.0%YoY
Functionally Graded Materials & Coatingsfiltered

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.

Powder Metallurgy
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2since 2023
0.0%YoY
Laser Material Processing

Techniques and systems utilizing laser beams for precise material modification, including cutting, cladding, ablation, and surface treatment, often for joining, shaping, or removing material.

Welding & Soldering
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1since 2023
new
Welding Process Control

Systems and methods for precisely controlling welding parameters such as power, speed, oscillation, and material feed to optimize weld quality, consistency, and efficiency, often involving automated or semi-automated processes.

Welding & Soldering
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1since 2023
n/a

Patents

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US 12290859 B2GRANTED
B22F12/60

Powder application device, method for operating a powder application device, and system for producing a three-dimensional workpiece

Filed:2019-11-06Pub:2025-05-06
Applicant:Nikon SLM Solutions AG

A powder application device ( 10 ) for use in a system ( 100 ) for producing a three-dimensional workpiece using a generative layering process comprises a spreading member ( 12 ). The spreading member ( 12 ) is movable across a surface of a carrier ( 116 ) for depositing a raw material powder for producing a workpiece by a generative layering method onto the surface of the carrier ( 116 ). Furthermore, the powder application device ( 10 ) comprises a powder entrainer ( 16 ) which is movable across a carrier plane (E) and which, in the region of a surface ( 20 ) facing the carrier plane (E), is provided with a surface profile ( 22 ). The surface profile ( 20 ) comprises an entraining element ( 24 a, 24 b, 24 c ) and a passage channel ( 26 a, 26 b, 26 c ). The entraining element ( 24 a, 24 b, 24 c ) and the passage channel ( 26 a, 26 b, 26 c ) are shaped and arranged in such a way that, with respect to the movement of the powder entrainer ( 16 ) across the carrier plane (E), powdery material deposited in front of the powder entrainer ( 16 ) on the carrier plane (E) is entrained by the entraining element ( 24 a, 24 b, 24 c ) during a movement of the powder entrainer ( 16 ) across the carrier plane (E) in a first direction of movement (R 1 ), and is guided through the passage channel ( 26 a, 26 b, 26 c ) during a movement of the powder entrainer ( 16 ) across the carrier plane (E) in a second direction of movement (R 2 ) opposite to the first direction of movement (R 1 ).