Google Patent Search

Google Patent Search Skill

Overview

This skill provides SQL-level access to Google Patents Public Datasets on BigQuery — 166M+ patent publications from 17+ countries. It complements the uspto-patent-search skill by offering full-text claims/description search, international patent coverage, and large-scale analytics.

You have 5 search modules, each targeting different BigQuery tables:

| Module | Script | Best For | |--------|--------|----------| | PatentsView (BQ) | patentsview_search.py | Individual claims search, assignee/inventor lookup (cheap) | | Publications | publications_search.py | Full-text claims/description, international patents, keyword search | | Research | research_search.py | Google's AI-extracted top terms | | Prosecution | prosecution_search.py | Assignments, litigation, PTAB, PEDS, ITC (via BigQuery) | | Format | format_results.py | Human-readable result formatting |

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Setup

Before running any queries, verify the user has BigQuery access configured.

Run get_started.py from the skill's root directory (the directory containing this SKILL.md file):

python3 get_started.py

If setup is needed, guide the user through:

1. Install gcloud CLI: brew install --cask google-cloud-sdk
2. Set project: gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID
3. Authenticate: gcloud auth application-default login
4. Install deps: python3 -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

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How to Handle User Requests

Step 1: Parse the Natural Language

Identify:

• Search type: Claims text, description text, keyword/title, assignee, inventor, CPC, analytics
• Scope: US only vs international, single patent vs broad search
• Filters: Date range, country, assignee, CPC code, keywords

Step 2: Choose the Right Table (Decision Matrix)

Use this matrix — check top to bottom, use the first match:

| User wants to... | Key signals | Use this script + function | |---|---|---| | Search individual claim text | "claims mentioning", "claim 1 says" | patentsview_search.search_claims() | | Full-text claims + other filters | "claims about X by Company Y" | publications_search.search_claims_fulltext() | | Search descriptions/specifications | "description mentions", "specification" | publications_search.search_description() | | Find patents by assignee (US only, cheap) | company name, "patents by" | See assignee caveat below | | Find patents by assignee (international) | company + non-US country | See assignee caveat below | | Find patents by inventor | person name, "invented by" | patentsview_search.search_by_inventor() | | Search by CPC classification | CPC code, "class H04L" | patentsview_search.search_by_cpc() | | Keyword search (title/abstract) | technology terms, general keyword | publications_search.search_by_keyword() | | International patent search | country name, EP/WO/JP/CN/KR | publications_search.search_international() | | Top assignees in a field | "top companies in", "who files most" | publications_search.count_by_assignee_cpc() | | Filing trends over time | "trends", "filings per year" | publications_search.filing_trends() | | Patent detail lookup | specific publication number | publications_search.get_patent_detail() | | Assignment history (BigQuery) | "ownership", "assigned to" (historical) | prosecution_search.search_assignments() | | Litigation records | "sued", "litigation", "infringement" | prosecution_search.search_litigation() | | PTAB challenges (BigQuery) | "IPR", "PTAB" (historical data) | prosecution_search.search_ptab() | | ITC investigations | "ITC", "Section 337", "import ban" | prosecution_search.search_itc() |

Assignee Search Caveat

BigQuery assignee data is unreliable for finding patents owned by a company. The assignee and assignee_harmonized fields in BigQuery reflect the original filing only — not subsequent assignments. If a patent was filed by individual inventors and later assigned to a company, BigQuery will still show the inventors as assignees. Additionally, the USPTO assignment tables in BigQuery are frozen at February 2017 and will not reflect any transfers after that date.

What to do when the user searches by assignee:

1. Before running the query, tell the user:

> "BigQuery assignee data only reflects the original filing and may miss patents that were > later assigned to this company. For more complete assignee results, I can search using the > USPTO Patent Search skill instead, which uses live USPTO assignment records. Would you like > me to use that instead?"

1. If the user wants to proceed with BigQuery anyway:

• US only: use patentsview_search.search_by_assignee()
• International: use publications_search.search_by_assignee()
• Always include a note in the results that the list may be incomplete

1. If the user wants more complete results, use the uspto-patent-search skill instead.

Cost-first routing: Always prefer cheaper tables when they can answer the question:

• patentsview.claim (~small) over claims_localized in publications (~131GB)
• patentsview.assignee over assignee_harmonized in publications
• Only use patents.publications when you need full-text, international data, or combined filters

Step 3: Run the Query

All scripts are in the scripts/ subdirectory relative to the skill root (the directory containing this SKILL.md file). Import and call:

import sys, os
# Use the directory containing SKILL.md as the base
scripts_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath("SKILL.md")), "scripts")
sys.path.insert(0, scripts_dir)
from patentsview_search import search_claims
results = search_claims("blockchain", keyword2="authentication")

Or run via CLI from the scripts directory:

cd scripts/
python3 patentsview_search.py claims blockchain --keyword2 authentication

Step 4: Format and Present Results

Use the formatters:

from format_results import format_patent_list, format_patent_detail
print(format_patent_list(results, source="claims"))

Or format manually following these principles:

• Lead with the answer, not the data
• Show publication_number, title, date, assignee
• Note total count and whether more results exist
• Mention cost if the query was expensive (shown in log warnings)

Step 5: Cost Awareness

Every query goes through a dry-run cost check. The free tier allows 1 TB/month of queries.

Thresholds:

• 5 GB: Blocked — you must ask the user before proceeding

When a query exceeds 5 GB, do NOT silently raise the limit. Instead:

1. Use client.estimate_cost(sql) to get the cost estimate
2. Tell the user the cost in plain terms:

> "This search would scan X GB, which is Y% of the 1 TB/month free tier. > Would you like to proceed?"

1. If the user approves, re-run with client.run_query(sql, force=True)
2. If the user declines, suggest ways to reduce cost:

• Add a country_code filter (e.g., country_code = 'US')
• Use a cheaper table (patentsview instead of publications)
• Add date range filters
• Use more specific keywords

Note: Full-text claims and description searches inherently scan large amounts of data (~40-150 GB). This is expected — these are the skill's most powerful features. Just make sure the user knows the cost before running them.

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Data Freshness Warning

BigQuery patent data is a periodic snapshot, not the live index that powers patents.google.com.

Critical limitation for assignee searches: The BigQuery assignee and assignee_harmonized fields reflect the original filing only. If a patent was filed by individual inventors and later assigned to a company, BigQuery still shows the inventors — not the company. The USPTO assignment tables in BigQuery are frozen at February 2017 and severely outdated.

When returning assignee search results, always mention this caveat. If the user needs current ownership data, suggest using the uspto-patent-search skill (live USPTO APIs) or searching patents.google.com directly.

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When to Use This Skill vs. USPTO Patent Search

| Capability | This skill (Google Patents BQ) | USPTO Patent Search | |---|---|---| | Claims text search | Full-text SQL search | Not available | | Description text search | Full-text SQL search | Not available | | International patents | 17+ countries | US only | | Patent analytics | SQL aggregations | Limited | | Real-time prosecution status | Stale (periodic snapshots) | Live API | | PDF document download | Not available | Yes | | Office action text/rejections | Stale snapshots | Live API | | PTAB live status | Stale snapshots | Live API | | No setup required | Needs GCP + gcloud | Just API keys |

Rule of thumb: Use this skill for searching and discovering patents. Use USPTO skill for specific patent lookups and prosecution data.

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Multi-Step Patterns

Technology Landscape Analysis

1. publications_search.count_by_assignee_cpc("G06N") → top AI patent filers
2. publications_search.filing_trends(cpc_prefix="G06N") → trends over time
3. Pick top assignees → publications_search.search_by_assignee("Google") for details

International Portfolio Search

1. publications_search.search_by_assignee("Samsung", country_code="US") → US patents
2. publications_search.search_by_assignee("Samsung", country_code="EP") → European patents
3. Compare coverage

Claims Deep Dive

1. patentsview_search.search_claims("blockchain") → quick, cheap scan
2. If need more filters: publications_search.search_claims_fulltext("blockchain", keyword2="authentication", grant_after=20200101)

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Error Handling

• BigQueryError with [SETUP_REQUIRED]: Guide user through get_started.py
• Query refused (too expensive): Suggest narrower filters or cheaper table
• Dry run failed: Usually a SQL syntax issue — check the query
• No results: Try broader search terms, different table, or check spelling

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Security

• No API keys stored — uses Application Default Credentials from gcloud
• Queries against public datasets only (no user data access)
• All SQL goes through validation before execution
• Cost guardrails prevent runaway queries

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: LeonardHope
• Source: LeonardHope/Google-Patents-Natural-Language-API-Search
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.