Patent Search MCP Server

Search patents across USPTO, EPO, and Google Patents for AI agents.

View on Apify | MCP Endpoint

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What It Does

Give AI agents the ability to search patent databases, analyze patent landscapes, and trace citation chains — with one tool call.

• USPTO patents — full US patent database search
• EPO patents — European Patent Office search
• Google Patents — aggregated patent data with citations
• Company landscapes — full patent portfolios by assignee
• Citation tracking — forward and backward citations

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Quick Start

Add to your AI agent:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patent-search-mcp": {
      "url": "https://patent-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or with authentication:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patent-search-mcp": {
      "url": "https://patent-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

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Tools

Tool	Price	Description
search_patents	$0.05	Search by keyword, CPC code, or inventor
get_patent_details	$0.03	Full metadata, claims, assignee
find_patent_citations	$0.05	Forward/backward citation chain
patent_landscape_by_company	$0.10	Company patent portfolio + filing trends

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Example Calls

Search Patents

search_patents(query="neural network transformer", max_results=10)

Returns:

{
  "patent_number": "US10712345B2",
  "title": "Attention mechanism for neural networks",
  "inventors": ["Vaswani", "Shazeer"],
  "filing_date": "2017-06-12",
  "issue_date": "2020-08-25",
  "assignee": "Google LLC",
  "source": "USPTO",
  "url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10712345B2"
}

Get Patent Details

get_patent_details(patent_number="US10123456", source="all")

Returns:

{
  "patent_number": "US10123456",
  "title": "Medical device with sensor array",
  "abstract": "A medical device comprising...",
  "assignee": "Medtronic PLC",
  "source": "Google Patents",
  "url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10123456",
  "details_available": true
}

Find Citations

find_patent_citations(patent_number="US10712345B2", citation_type="forward")

Returns:

{
  "patent_number": "US10712345B2",
  "forward_citations": [
    {"patent_number": "US11012345", "source": "forward_citation"},
    {"patent_number": "EP3456789", "source": "forward_citation"}
  ],
  "total": 156
}

Company Landscape

patent_landscape_by_company(company_name="Apple Inc", max_results=20)

Returns:

{
  "company_name": "Apple Inc",
  "total_patents": 247,
  "filing_trend": {"2020": 45, "2021": 52, "2022": 61, "2023": 89},
  "top_patents": [...],
  "technology_areas": ["semiconductor", "display", "wireless"],
  "sources_searched": ["USPTO", "Google Patents"]
}

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How It Works

Phase 1: Multi-Source Search

• Queries USPTO Patent Public Search API
• Queries Google Patents
• Queries EPO Open Patent Services (OPS)
• All queries run in parallel for speed

Phase 2: Deduplication

• Removes duplicate patents by number
• Preserves first-seen metadata

Phase 3: Aggregation

• Returns structured JSON with source attribution
• Includes direct URLs to patent records

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Data Sources

Source	Coverage	Type
USPTO	12M+ US patents	Full text search
EPO	100M+ worldwide	Patent families
Google Patents	Aggregated	Citations, assignments

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Use Cases

Tech Transfer Evaluation

"Find patents from MIT researchers in the AI space" → AI calls search_patents with MIT inventor query → Returns MIT patent portfolio

Due Diligence

"What's Apple's patent strategy in electric vehicles?" → AI calls patent_landscape_by_company → Returns filing trends, top patents

Citation Analysis

"Who has cited the original transformer patent?" → AI calls find_patent_citations with citation_type="forward" → Returns citing patents

Freedom to Operate

"Are there blocking patents on our surgical robot design?" → AI calls search_patents with design keywords → Returns relevant patents

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Pricing

Tool	Price
search_patents	$0.05/call
get_patent_details	$0.03/call
find_patent_citations	$0.05/call
patent_landscape_by_company	$0.10/call

No subscription required. Pay per use via Apify PPE.

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Cross-Sell Triggers

This MCP complements the research intelligence cluster:

• university-research-mcp → patent_landscape triggers → patent-search-mcp
• academic-research-mcp → find_citations on patents → find_patent_citations
• healthcare-compliance-mcp → FDA device approvals → patent history check

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Connect to AI Agents

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patent-search-mcp": {
      "url": "https://patent-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cursor / Windsurf

Add the same JSON to your AI client config.

cURL Example

curl -X POST "https://patent-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"tool": "search_patents", "params": {"query": "neural network", "max_results": 5}}'

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Output Schema

All tools return JSON. Each result includes:

• patent_number — unique identifier
• title — patent title
• source — which database
• url — direct link to record

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API Status

• Health: Running
• Uptime: 99.9%
• Rate Limits: Respect upstream API limits
• Support: Open issue on GitHub