# Patent Family & Citation Graph (`kevinserver24/patent-family-citation-graph`) Actor

For a batch of patent publication numbers, return the citation graph, the patent family across offices, legal status and expiration, and what changed since the last check (status change, reassignment, new citations, new family members). Sourced from the robots.txt-allowed Google Patents pages.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/kevinserver24/patent-family-citation-graph.md
- **Developed by:** [Kevin](https://apify.com/kevinserver24) (community)
- **Categories:** Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$10.00 / 1,000 patent record verifieds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Patent Family & Citation Graph

For a batch of patent **publication numbers** (e.g. `US10000000B2`,
`EP3268771B1`, `WO2020123456A1`), this Actor returns:

- **Bibliography**: title, current assignee organisation, filing date,
  publication date, grant date (when the document is actually a grant --
  correctly distinguished across the pre-2001/post-2001 USPTO kind-code
  boundary), expiration date, jurisdiction, and the leaf CPC classification
  codes.
- **The citation graph**: which patents this one cites (`citations_backward`)
  and which patents cite this one (`citations_forward`).
- **The patent family**: the same invention's equivalents filed at other
  patent offices (`family_members`) -- a US grant's Japanese, European,
  Israeli or other counterparts.
- **Current legal status**: Active, Expired, Granted, and so on, as recorded
  by Google Patents' own IFI-derived status.
- **What changed since the last check.** This Actor keeps a per-patent
  snapshot across runs. Check the same patent number again next week, next
  month, next quarter, and you get `previously_checked: true` plus, when
  anything moved, `changed_since_last_check: true` and a `changes` list
  naming exactly what: a status change, a reassignment (a new owner of
  record), a new patent-family member, new forward citations, or a new
  legal event (reported as a date, a short category such as "Assignment",
  and an event code -- never free text, which is where a person's name can
  appear in the source's own records).

### What this Actor never returns

No inventor name. No free-text legal-event detail (the kind of field that
can contain an individual's name inside boilerplate like an assignment
record). This Actor reports on **patents and the organisations that own
them**, not on the people named as inventors.

### Input

One patent **publication** number per line (or comma-separated). An
**application** number (e.g. `US14/643,719`) is a different identifier and
is not accepted -- only a publication number resolves to a
`patents.google.com/patent/{number}` page.

### Pricing

Charged per patent number that resolves to a real, verified patent record.
A number that does not exist (never issued, or mistyped) is not charged.

### Source and affiliation

Data is read from individual pages on `patents.google.com`, respecting that
site's `robots.txt` (only the explicitly allowed `/patent/{id}` path is ever
requested). This Actor is **not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored
by Google LLC**. "Google Patents" is a trademark of Google LLC.

# Actor input Schema

## `patentNumbers` (type: `array`):

One patent PUBLICATION number per line (or comma-separated): a two-letter office code, digits, and a kind code, e.g. "US10000000B2", "EP1234567A1", "WO2020123456A1". An APPLICATION number (e.g. "US14/643,719") is a different identifier and is not accepted. Each valid number becomes one billable record: bibliography, citation graph, patent family, legal status, and what changed since the last time this Actor checked it.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "patentNumbers": [
    "US10000000B2",
    "EP3268771B1"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "patentNumbers": [
        "US10000000B2",
        "EP3268771B1"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("kevinserver24/patent-family-citation-graph").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "patentNumbers": [
        "US10000000B2",
        "EP3268771B1",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("kevinserver24/patent-family-citation-graph").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "patentNumbers": [
    "US10000000B2",
    "EP3268771B1"
  ]
}' |
apify call kevinserver24/patent-family-citation-graph --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,kevinserver24/patent-family-citation-graph"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/FHA3PGAbQymNRPzad/builds/Zb7sA4lv3ghxKN5Vs/openapi.json