# USPTO Patent Search — Grants & Applications (`noahadler/uspto-patent-search`) Actor

Search USPTO Patent Public Search by keyword: document id, patent number, title, inventors, publish date, grant vs application. No API key. Public USPTO index only — not Google Patents. Clean PPE rows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/noahadler/uspto-patent-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Noah Adler](https://apify.com/noahadler) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.40 / 1,000 patents

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 Patent Search — Grants & Applications

Search keywords on **USPTO Patent Public Search** (no API key) and get one row per document: grants (`USPAT`) and/or pre-grant publications (`US-PGPUB`).

This Actor talks to USPTO’s public search API used by [Patent Public Search](https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/). It is **not** Google Patents (see separate Actors for that) and it does **not** need an Open Data Portal API key.

Source acknowledgement: United States Patent and Trademark Office, [www.uspto.gov](https://www.uspto.gov). Not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.

### Input

```json
{
  "query": "lithium battery",
  "databases": "both",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

| Field | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| `query` | Keywords as in Patent Public Search |
| `databases` | `both` (default), `grants`, or `applications` |
| `maxItems` | Cap 1–100 |

### Output

Each row:

- `documentId` — e.g. `US-12748335-B1`
- `patentNumber` — numeric id from the index
- `title`, `inventors`, `datePublished`
- `documentType` — `USPAT` or `US-PGPUB`
- `kind` — `grant` or `application`
- `pageCount`, `detailUrl` (PPUBS deep link)

This search index does **not** return assignees, abstracts, or claims. Use a detail/PDF workflow or Google Patents Actors if you need those fields.

### Notes

- Public patent bibliographic data; not legal advice.
- Respect USPTO rate limits — keep `maxItems` modest for schedules.
- Inventor names are public patent-record data.

# Actor input Schema

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

Keywords as you would type in USPTO Patent Public Search, for example lithium battery or CRISPR.

## `databases` (type: `string`):

grants = issued patents (USPAT). applications = pre-grant publications (US-PGPUB). both = default.

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

Maximum rows to return (1–100).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "lithium battery",
  "databases": "both",
  "maxItems": 25
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `patents` (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 = {
    "query": "lithium battery"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("noahadler/uspto-patent-search").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 = { "query": "lithium battery" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("noahadler/uspto-patent-search").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 '{
  "query": "lithium battery"
}' |
apify call noahadler/uspto-patent-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/kQH07kjjrvrZ9h9Bk/builds/ASLliBSJtgQLMjneY/openapi.json