alterlab-uspto

name	alterlab-uspto
description	Access USPTO APIs for patent/trademark searches, examination history (PEDS), assignments, citations, office actions, TSDR, for IP analysis and prior art searches. Part of the AlterLab Academic Skills suite.
license	MIT
metadata	{"skill-author":"AlterLab","version":"1.0.0"}

USPTO Database

Overview

USPTO provides specialized APIs for patent and trademark data. Search patents by keywords/inventors/assignees, retrieve examination history via PEDS, track assignments, analyze citations and office actions, access TSDR for trademarks, for IP analysis and prior art searches.

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:

• Patent Search: Finding patents by keywords, inventors, assignees, classifications, or dates
• Patent Details: Retrieving full patent data including claims, abstracts, citations
• Trademark Search: Looking up trademarks by serial or registration number
• Trademark Status: Checking trademark status, ownership, and prosecution history
• Examination History: Accessing patent prosecution data from PEDS (Patent Examination Data System)
• Office Actions: Retrieving office action text, citations, and rejections
• Assignments: Tracking patent/trademark ownership transfers
• Citations: Analyzing patent citations (forward and backward)
• Litigation: Accessing patent litigation records
• Portfolio Analysis: Analyzing patent/trademark portfolios for companies or inventors

USPTO API Ecosystem

The USPTO provides multiple specialized APIs for different data needs:

Core APIs

1. PatentSearch API - Modern ElasticSearch-based patent search (replaced legacy PatentsView in May 2025)

   • Search patents by keywords, inventors, assignees, classifications, dates
   • Access to patent data through June 30, 2025
   • 45 requests/minute rate limit
   • Base URL: https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/

2. PEDS (Patent Examination Data System) - Patent examination history

   • Application status and transaction history from 1981-present
   • Office action dates and examination events
   • Use uspto-opendata-python Python library
   • Replaced: PAIR Bulk Data (PBD) - decommissioned

3. TSDR (Trademark Status & Document Retrieval) - Trademark data

   • Trademark status, ownership, prosecution history
   • Search by serial or registration number
   • Base URL: https://tsdrapi.uspto.gov/ts/cd/

Additional APIs

4. Patent Assignment Search - Ownership records and transfers
5. Trademark Assignment Search - Trademark ownership changes
6. Enriched Citation API - Patent citation analysis
7. Office Action Text Retrieval - Full text of office actions
8. Office Action Citations - Citations from office actions
9. Office Action Rejection - Rejection reasons and types
10. PTAB API - Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings
11. Patent Litigation Cases - Federal district court litigation data
12. Cancer Moonshot Data Set - Cancer-related patents

Quick Start

API Key Registration

USPTO APIs require an API key. Register at: https://account.uspto.gov/api-manager/

API key for PatentSearch API is provided by PatentsView. Register at: https://patentsview.org/api-v01-information-page

Set the API key as an environment variable:

export USPTO_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
export PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY="you_api_key_here"

Helper Scripts

This skill includes Python scripts for common operations:

• scripts/patent_search.py - PatentSearch API client for searching patents
• scripts/peds_client.py - PEDS client for examination history
• scripts/trademark_client.py - TSDR client for trademark data

Task 1: Searching Patents

Using the PatentSearch API

The PatentSearch API uses a JSON query language with various operators for flexible searching.

Basic Patent Search Examples

Search by keywords in abstract:

from scripts.patent_search import PatentSearchClient

client = PatentSearchClient()

# Search for machine learning patents
results = client.search_patents({
    "_text_all": {"patent_abstract": "machine learning"}
})

for patent in results['patents']:
    print(f"{patent['patent_number']}: {patent['patent_title']}")

Search by inventor:

results = client.search_by_inventor("John Smith")

Search by assignee/company:

results = client.search_by_assignee("Google")

Search by date range:

results = client.search_by_date_range("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31")

Search by CPC classification:

results = client.search_by_classification("H04N")  # Video/image tech

Advanced Patent Search

Combine multiple criteria with logical operators:

results = client.advanced_search(
    keywords=["artificial", "intelligence"],
    assignee="Microsoft",
    start_date="2023-01-01",
    end_date="2024-12-31",
    cpc_codes=["G06N", "G06F"]  # AI and computing classifications
)

Direct API Usage

For complex queries, use the API directly:

import requests

url = "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/patent"
headers = {
    "X-Api-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

query = {
    "q": {
        "_and": [
            {"patent_date": {"_gte": "2024-01-01"}},
            {"assignee_organization": {"_text_any": ["Google", "Alphabet"]}},
            {"cpc_subclass_id": ["G06N", "H04N"]}
        ]
    },
    "f": ["patent_number", "patent_title", "patent_date", "inventor_name"],
    "s": [{"patent_date": "desc"}],
    "o": {"per_page": 100, "page": 1}
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=query)
results = response.json()

Query Operators

• Equality: {"field": "value"} or {"field": {"_eq": "value"}}
• Comparison: _gt, _gte, _lt, _lte, _neq
• Text search: _text_all, _text_any, _text_phrase
• String matching: _begins, _contains
• Logical: _and, _or, _not

Best Practice: Use _text_* operators for text fields (more performant than _contains or _begins)

Available Patent Endpoints

• /patent - Granted patents
• /publication - Pregrant publications
• /inventor - Inventor information
• /assignee - Assignee information
• /cpc_subclass, /cpc_at_issue - CPC classifications
• /uspc - US Patent Classification
• /ipc - International Patent Classification
• /claims, /brief_summary_text, /detail_description_text - Text data (beta)

Reference Documentation

See references/patentsearch_api.md for complete PatentSearch API documentation including:

• All available endpoints
• Complete field reference
• Query syntax and examples
• Response formats
• Rate limits and best practices

Task 2: Retrieving Patent Examination Data

Using PEDS (Patent Examination Data System)

PEDS provides comprehensive prosecution history including transaction events, status changes, and examination timeline.

Installation

uv pip install uspto-opendata-python

Basic PEDS Usage

Get application data:

from scripts.peds_client import PEDSHelper

helper = PEDSHelper()

# By application number
app_data = helper.get_application("16123456")
print(f"Title: {app_data['title']}")
print(f"Status: {app_data['app_status']}")

# By patent number
patent_data = helper.get_patent("11234567")

Get transaction history:

transactions = helper.get_transaction_history("16123456")

for trans in transactions:
    print(f"{trans['date']}: {trans['code']} - {trans['description']}")

Get office actions:

office_actions = helper.get_office_actions("16123456")

for oa in office_actions:
    if oa['code'] == 'CTNF':
        print(f"Non-final rejection: {oa['date']}")
    elif oa['code'] == 'CTFR':
        print(f"Final rejection: {oa['date']}")
    elif oa['code'] == 'NOA':
        print(f"Notice of allowance: {oa['date']}")

Get status summary:

summary = helper.get_status_summary("16123456")

print(f"Current status: {summary['current_status']}")
print(f"Filing date: {summary['filing_date']}")
print(f"Pendency: {summary['pendency_days']} days")

if summary['is_patented']:
    print(f"Patent number: {summary['patent_number']}")
    print(f"Issue date: {summary['issue_date']}")

Prosecution Analysis

Analyze prosecution patterns:

analysis = helper.analyze_prosecution("16123456")

print(f"Total office actions: {analysis['total_office_actions']}")
print(f"Non-final rejections: {analysis['non_final_rejections']}")
print(f"Final rejections: {analysis['final_rejections']}")
print(f"Allowed: {analysis['allowance']}")
print(f"Responses filed: {analysis['responses']}")

Common Transaction Codes

• CTNF - Non-final rejection mailed
• CTFR - Final rejection mailed
• NOA - Notice of allowance mailed
• WRIT - Response filed
• ISS.FEE - Issue fee payment
• ABND - Application abandoned
• AOPF - Office action mailed

Reference Documentation

See references/peds_api.md for complete PEDS documentation including:

• All available data fields
• Transaction code reference
• Python library usage
• Portfolio analysis examples

Task 3: Searching and Monitoring Trademarks

Using TSDR (Trademark Status & Document Retrieval)

Access trademark status, ownership, and prosecution history.

Basic Trademark Usage

Get trademark by serial number:

from scripts.trademark_client import TrademarkClient

client = TrademarkClient()

# By serial number
tm_data = client.get_trademark_by_serial("87654321")

# By registration number
tm_data = client.get_trademark_by_registration("5678901")

Get trademark status:

status = client.get_trademark_status("87654321")

print(f"Mark: {status['mark_text']}")
print(f"Status: {status['status']}")
print(f"Filing date: {status['filing_date']}")

if status['is_registered']:
    print(f"Registration #: {status['registration_number']}")
    print(f"Registration date: {status['registration_date']}")

Check trademark health:

health = client.check_trademark_health("87654321")

print(f"Mark: {health['mark']}")
print(f"Status: {health['status']}")

for alert in health['alerts']:
    print(alert)

if health['needs_attention']:
    print("⚠️  This mark needs attention!")

Trademark Portfolio Monitoring

Monitor multiple trademarks:

def monitor_portfolio(serial_numbers, api_key):
    """Monitor trademark portfolio health."""
    client = TrademarkClient(api_key)

    results = {
        'active': [],
        'pending': [],
        'problems': []
    }

    for sn in serial_numbers:
        health = client.check_trademark_health(sn)

        if 'REGISTERED' in health['status']:
            results['active'].append(health)
        elif 'PENDING' in health['status'] or 'PUBLISHED' in health['status']:
            results['pending'].append(health)
        elif health['needs_attention']:
            results['problems'].append(health)

    return results

Common Trademark Statuses

• REGISTERED - Active registered mark
• PENDING - Under examination
• PUBLISHED FOR OPPOSITION - In opposition period
• ABANDONED - Application abandoned
• CANCELLED - Registration cancelled
• SUSPENDED - Examination suspended
• REGISTERED AND RENEWED - Registration renewed

Reference Documentation

See references/trademark_api.md for complete trademark API documentation including:

• TSDR API reference
• Trademark Assignment Search API
• All status codes
• Prosecution history access
• Ownership tracking

Task 4: Tracking Assignments and Ownership

Patent and Trademark Assignments

Both patents and trademarks have Assignment Search APIs for tracking ownership changes.

Patent Assignment API

Base URL: https://assignment-api.uspto.gov/patent/v1.4/

Search by patent number:

import requests
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

def get_patent_assignments(patent_number, api_key):
    url = f"https://assignment-api.uspto.gov/patent/v1.4/assignment/patent/{patent_number}"
    headers = {"X-Api-Key": api_key}

    response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
    if response.status_code == 200:
        return response.text  # Returns XML

assignments_xml = get_patent_assignments("11234567", api_key)
root = ET.fromstring(assignments_xml)

for assignment in root.findall('.//assignment'):
    recorded_date = assignment.find('recordedDate').text
    assignor = assignment.find('.//assignor/name').text
    assignee = assignment.find('.//assignee/name').text
    conveyance = assignment.find('conveyanceText').text

    print(f"{recorded_date}: {assignor} → {assignee}")
    print(f"  Type: {conveyance}\n")

Search by company name:

def find_company_patents(company_name, api_key):
    url = "https://assignment-api.uspto.gov/patent/v1.4/assignment/search"
    headers = {"X-Api-Key": api_key}
    data = {"criteria": {"assigneeName": company_name}}

    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=data)
    return response.text

Common Assignment Types

• ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST - Ownership transfer
• SECURITY AGREEMENT - Collateral/security interest
• MERGER - Corporate merger
• CHANGE OF NAME - Name change
• ASSIGNMENT OF PARTIAL INTEREST - Partial ownership

Task 5: Accessing Additional USPTO Data

Office Actions, Citations, and Litigation

Multiple specialized APIs provide additional patent data.

Office Action Text Retrieval

Retrieve full text of office actions using application number. Integrate with PEDS to identify which office actions exist, then retrieve full text.

Enriched Citation API

Analyze patent citations:

• Forward citations (patents citing this patent)
• Backward citations (prior art cited)
• Examiner vs. applicant citations
• Citation context

Patent Litigation Cases API

Access federal district court patent litigation records:

• 74,623+ litigation records
• Patents asserted
• Parties and venues
• Case outcomes

PTAB API

Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings:

• Inter partes review (IPR)
• Post-grant review (PGR)
• Appeal decisions

Reference Documentation

See references/additional_apis.md for comprehensive documentation on:

• Enriched Citation API
• Office Action APIs (Text, Citations, Rejections)
• Patent Litigation Cases API
• PTAB API
• Cancer Moonshot Data Set
• OCE Status/Event Codes

Complete Analysis Example

Comprehensive Patent Analysis

Combine multiple APIs for complete patent intelligence:

def comprehensive_patent_analysis(patent_number, api_key):
    """
    Full patent analysis using multiple USPTO APIs.
    """
    from scripts.patent_search import PatentSearchClient
    from scripts.peds_client import PEDSHelper

    results = {}

    # 1. Get patent details
    patent_client = PatentSearchClient(api_key)
    patent_data = patent_client.get_patent(patent_number)
    results['patent'] = patent_data

    # 2. Get examination history
    peds = PEDSHelper()
    results['prosecution'] = peds.analyze_prosecution(patent_number)
    results['status'] = peds.get_status_summary(patent_number)

    # 3. Get assignment history
    import requests
    assign_url = f"https://assignment-api.uspto.gov/patent/v1.4/assignment/patent/{patent_number}"
    assign_resp = requests.get(assign_url, headers={"X-Api-Key": api_key})
    results['assignments'] = assign_resp.text if assign_resp.status_code == 200 else None

    # 4. Analyze results
    print(f"\n=== Patent {patent_number} Analysis ===\n")
    print(f"Title: {patent_data['patent_title']}")
    print(f"Assignee: {', '.join(patent_data.get('assignee_organization', []))}")
    print(f"Issue Date: {patent_data['patent_date']}")

    print(f"\nProsecution:")
    print(f"  Office Actions: {results['prosecution']['total_office_actions']}")
    print(f"  Rejections: {results['prosecution']['non_final_rejections']} non-final, {results['prosecution']['final_rejections']} final")
    print(f"  Pendency: {results['prosecution']['pendency_days']} days")

    # Analyze citations
    if 'cited_patent_number' in patent_data:
        print(f"\nCitations:")
        print(f"  Cites: {len(patent_data['cited_patent_number'])} patents")
    if 'citedby_patent_number' in patent_data:
        print(f"  Cited by: {len(patent_data['citedby_patent_number'])} patents")

    return results

Best Practices

1. API Key Management

   • Store API key in environment variables
   • Never commit keys to version control
   • Use same key across all USPTO APIs

2. Rate Limiting

   • PatentSearch: 45 requests/minute
   • Implement exponential backoff for rate limit errors
   • Cache responses when possible

3. Query Optimization

   • Use _text_* operators for text fields (more performant)
   • Request only needed fields to reduce response size
   • Use date ranges to narrow searches

4. Data Handling

   • Not all fields populated for all patents/trademarks
   • Handle missing data gracefully
   • Parse dates consistently

5. Combining APIs

   • Use PatentSearch for discovery
   • Use PEDS for prosecution details
   • Use Assignment APIs for ownership tracking
   • Combine data for comprehensive analysis

Important Notes

• Legacy API Sunset: PatentsView legacy API discontinued May 1, 2025 - use PatentSearch API
• PAIR Bulk Data Decommissioned: Use PEDS instead
• Data Coverage: PatentSearch has data through June 30, 2025; PEDS from 1981-present
• Text Endpoints: Claims and description endpoints are in beta with ongoing backfilling
• Rate Limits: Respect rate limits to avoid service disruptions

Resources

API Documentation

• PatentSearch API (ODP transition guidance): https://data.uspto.gov/support/transition-guidance/patentsview — the legacy search.patentsview.org/docs/ host is being retired as part of the USPTO Open Data Portal (ODP) consolidation; consult this page for the migration path and current endpoint references.
• USPTO Developer Portal: https://developer.uspto.gov/
• USPTO Open Data Portal: https://data.uspto.gov/
• API Key Registration: https://account.uspto.gov/api-manager/

Python Libraries

• uspto-opendata-python: https://pypi.org/project/uspto-opendata-python/
• USPTO Docs: https://docs.ip-tools.org/uspto-opendata-python/

Reference Files

• references/patentsearch_api.md - Complete PatentSearch API reference
• references/peds_api.md - PEDS API and library documentation
• references/trademark_api.md - Trademark APIs (TSDR and Assignment)
• references/additional_apis.md - Citations, Office Actions, Litigation, PTAB

Scripts

• scripts/patent_search.py - PatentSearch API client
• scripts/peds_client.py - PEDS examination data client
• scripts/trademark_client.py - Trademark search client