Create a USPTO.gov account and generate an ODP API key from the account settings (required starting June 2026)
Search patent applications by keyword in the title or abstract: POST https://api.uspto.gov/api/v1/patent/applications/search with JSON body containing q (query string using Lucene syntax), dateRangeBegin, dateRangeEnd, and fields to return
Filter by assignee name by adding assigneeEntityName:{company} to the query string; use AND/OR operators for multi-term queries
Retrieve the full application record: GET https://api.uspto.gov/api/v1/patent/applications/{applicationNumber} to get filing date, status, claims, abstract, and inventor details
Retrieve patent grant records (issued patents) using the separate grants search endpoint with similar query parameters
Download associated documents (published application PDF, office actions) via the file wrapper endpoint: GET https://api.uspto.gov/api/v1/patent/applications/{applicationNumber}/documents
Known gotchas
The legacy PatentsView Search API (search.patentsview.org) and the new USPTO ODP patent search endpoint are separate systems with different schemas and coverage; the ODP is the current primary API but may lag legacy PatentsView on certain normalized fields like disambiguated inventor names
ODP accounts will require additional profile fields (organization, use case) starting August 2026 per USPTO announcements; integrations built in mid-2026 may face re-authentication requirements after August
Patent application publication dates lag filing dates by 18 months by statute; a freshly filed application will not appear in any searchable API until after publication, creating a 'dark period' where prior art searches can miss recent filings
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