What are patent APIs?

Patent APIs provide programmatic access to patent databases, allowing developers to search patents by keyword, inventor, assignee, or classification and retrieve full patent documents and legal status information.

Is the USPTO patent API free?

Yes. The USPTO Patent Full-Text Database API and PatentsView API are free to use. They cover millions of US patents with metadata, claims, abstracts, and inventor information.

Can I search international patents through an API?

Yes. The European Patent Office (EPO) OPS API provides access to the Espacenet patent database covering patents from over 100 countries. A free registration provides access to millions of international patent documents.

Patent Search & Information APIs

API	Description	Auth	HTTPS	CORS
EPO	European Patent Office API providing access to European patent search and publication data	OAuth	✓	?
PatentsView	API designed to explore and visualize trends across the US innovation and patent landscape	No	✓	?
TIPO	Taiwan Intellectual Property Office patent data and search API	apiKey	✓	?
USPTO	United States Patent and Trademark Office open data and search services	No	✓	?

API

Description

Auth

HTTPS

CORS

Link

EPO

European Patent Office API providing access to European patent search and publication data

OAuth

✓

PatentsView

API designed to explore and visualize trends across the US innovation and patent landscape

✓

TIPO

Taiwan Intellectual Property Office patent data and search API

apiKey

✓

USPTO

United States Patent and Trademark Office open data and search services

✓

Best Patent APIs for Developers

A patent API allows developers to search patent databases, retrieve full patent documents, track IP portfolios, and analyze patent landscapes programmatically. These APIs serve legal tech platforms, R&D tools, and competitive intelligence applications.

CodeHelper's curated patent API collection includes APIs covering US patents, international filings, trademark databases, and intellectual property analytics.

What to look for in a patent API

Full-text search: APIs that search within patent claims and descriptions provide more precise results than title-only search.
Classification support: CPC and IPC classification codes let you narrow searches to specific technology domains.
Legal status data: Knowing whether a patent is active, expired, or abandoned is critical for IP research and freedom-to-operate analysis.

How to use this API directory

Browse the curated list of APIs below.
Click any API to visit its documentation.
Check the Auth column to understand what credentials you need.

Whether you are building a patent search tool or an IP portfolio tracker, this free curated API directory saves you hours of research.

Patent APIs

EPO