Forge furnaces (furnaces for heat treatment C21D9/00; furnaces in general F27)

Filing statistics

CPC B21J 17/00 belongs to the parent subclass B21J, which recorded 25,793 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 1,375 in 2013 to 2,422 in 2023 (+76%), peaking at 2,777 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class B21 are JFE STEEL (2,667 applications), NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION (2,049 applications) and POSCO (POHANG IRON AND STEEL COMPANY) (1,967 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings