# USPTO Patent Search API

> USPTO Patent Search API is a paid API for AI agents from x402.agentutility.ai, paid per call via x402, $0.05/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-15).

Search USPTO patents by keyword, inventor, assignee, CPC class, or filing date range, returning abstracts, publication numbers, inventors, and assignees.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://x402.agentutility.ai/patent-search-api?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.05/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/uspto-patent-search-api-a1249358
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_GheZU8a1D1MHY2HjDJHYS

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability uspto-patent-search-api-a1249358 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Search the USPTO for patents related to 'transformer neural network architecture' filed between 2018 and 2023 — I want to see the abstracts, inventors, assignees, and publication numbers for the top results.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when an agent needs to search or look up USPTO patent records for prior art research, competitive intelligence, inventor history, or technology landscape analysis. Prefer it over generic web search when structured patent metadata (publication numbers, abstracts, CPC codes, inventor/assignee fields) is needed directly from the USPTO source. Best for agentic workflows that need programmatic patent data without scraping.

## Known failure modes

- No results found for overly narrow or misspelled query terms
- Rate limiting or payment failure via x402 protocol returns 402 error
- Invalid CPC class code returns empty or error response
- Date range with incorrect format causes query failure
- USPTO Open Data backend downtime causes 503 or timeout errors

## How this service works

Search USPTO patents by keyword, inventor, assignee, CPC class, or filing date range. Returns abstracts, inventors, assignees, and publication numbers from the USPTO Open Data backend — a patent lookup and prior-art search endpoint for agents.

## Output

Returns a list of matching patents from the USPTO Open Data backend, each including the publication number, title, abstract text, inventor names, assignee names, filing date, and CPC classification codes.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method",
    "bodyType",
    "body"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "body": {
     "required": [
      "query"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "cpc": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "CPC classification code prefix (e.g. 'G06N' for AI/ML, 'A61K' for pharmaceuticals)."
      },
      "limit": {
       "type": "number",
       "description": "Max patents to return. 1-50. Default 10 (most-recent-first)."
      },
      "query": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Free-text search keywords (e.g. 'quantum error correction', 'mRNA vaccine')."
      },
      "date_to": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Filing-date ceiling in YYYY-MM-DD format. Inclusive."
      },
      "assignee": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Assignee/owner name filter (e.g. 'Google', 'IBM Corporation')."
      },
      "inventor": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Inventor last-name filter (case-insensitive, e.g. 'Hassabis')."
      },
      "date_from": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Filing-date floor in YYYY-MM-DD format. Inclusive."
      },
      "summarize": {
       "type": "boolean",
       "description": "If true, attaches a Venice plain-English summary to the top result. Adds latency. Default false."
      }
     }
    },
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "POST"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "bodyType": {
     "enum": [
      "json",
      "form-data",
      "text"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
      "query": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "patents": {
       "type": "array"
      },
      "returned": {
       "type": "integer"
      }
     }
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "query": "quantum computing",
  "patents": [],
  "returned": 5
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/uspto-patent-search-api-a1249358/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from x402.agentutility.ai](https://www.zero.xyz/host/x402.agentutility.ai/llms.txt)