# USPTO US Patent & Invention Intelligence Scraper (`litezero/uspto-patents-scraper`) Actor

Extract granted patents, patent numbers, abstracts, inventors, assignees, filing dates, and legal statuses from USPTO and Google Patents.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/litezero/uspto-patents-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [LiteZero](https://apify.com/litezero) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.05 / 1,000 item scrapeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## 📜 USPTO US Patent & Invention Intelligence Scraper

Search and extract granted patents, patent publication numbers, full abstracts, inventors, corporate assignees, grant dates, and CPC technology classifications directly from the **United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)**.

***

### 🥊 Why This Actor Beats the Competition

| Feature | ⚡ USPTO Patents Scraper | 🐢 Traditional Crawlers & Manual Search |
|---|---|---|
| **Speed** | **50+ patent filings in < 2 seconds** | Manual search takes hours across disparate PDFs |
| **Pricing** | **$1.50 / 1,000 items** (Platform Usage: FREE) | Expensive enterprise IP databases ($2,000+/mo) |
| **Data Enrichment** | Structured assignees, inventors, abstracts, CPCs | Unstructured raw text and scanned PDFs |
| **Direct Links** | Instant Google Patents & USPTO Portal URLs | Requires manual docket number lookups |
| **Reliability** | Direct official PatentsView REST integration | 100% uptime, zero captcha friction |

***

### 🛠️ Step-by-Step: How to Use

#### Method 1: Apify Web Console (No-Code GUI)

1. Enter your target **Query / Technology Keyword** (e.g. `artificial intelligence`, `quantum computing`, `solid state battery`).
2. Optionally specify an **Assignee Organization** (e.g. `Apple`, `Microsoft`, `Google`, `Pfizer`).
3. Set **Max Items** and click **Start**.
4. Download full structured patent datasets in JSON, CSV, or Excel.

#### Method 2: Python SDK

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run_input = {
    "query": "autonomous driving",
    "assignee": "Tesla",
    "maxItems": 50
}
run = client.actor("litezero/uspto-patents-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(f"US{item['patentNumber']}: {item['title']} ({item['grantDate']})")
```

#### Method 3: Node.js SDK

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

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('litezero/uspto-patents-scraper').call({
    query: 'neural network',
    maxItems: 25,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(`Extracted ${items.length} patent grants.`);
```

#### Method 4: REST API / cURL

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/litezero~uspto-patents-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "CRISPR", "maxItems": 20}'
```

***

### 📥 Input Parameters

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `query` | String | `"artificial intelligence"` | Keyword or topic to search across patent titles and abstracts. |
| `assignee` | String | *Optional* | Corporate assignee or patent owner (e.g. Apple, Google, IBM). |
| `maxItems` | Integer | `50` | Maximum number of patent filings to extract. |

***

### 📤 Output Data Dictionary

```json
{
  "patentNumber": "11928374",
  "title": "Method and system for distributed neural network inference",
  "grantDate": "2024-03-12",
  "abstract": "Systems and methods are described for partitioning transformer models across heterogeneous edge accelerators...",
  "inventors": [
    "John Doe",
    "Jane Smith"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Alphabet Inc."
  ],
  "cpcClassifications": [
    "G06N3/08",
    "G06F9/455"
  ],
  "googlePatentsUrl": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11928374",
  "usptoUrl": "https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=11928374",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-04T10:00:00.000Z"
}
```

***

### 💡 Top Use Cases

1. **R\&D & Competitive IP Landscaping:** Monitor patent applications from tech giants and startups months before commercial product launches.
2. **Prior Art & Legal Due Diligence:** Rapidly discover patent citations and claims for patent prosecution and freedom-to-operate analyses.
3. **M\&A Technology Valuation:** Quantify enterprise IP portfolios, inventor velocity, and technology moats during startup acquisitions.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Technology or invention keyword to search in patent titles/abstracts (e.g. 'artificial intelligence', 'battery cathode', 'crispr gene editing').

## `assignee` (type: `string`):

Filter by company or patent owner (e.g. Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Pfizer).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of patents to extract.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "artificial intelligence",
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("litezero/uspto-patents-scraper").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("litezero/uspto-patents-scraper").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 '{}' |
apify call litezero/uspto-patents-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,litezero/uspto-patents-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/hGWevGU0jMB2D8DR9/builds/m7HzX1SB6IsMrWdad/openapi.json