Patent Search

IPKit provides patent search across three systems: Australian patents via IP Australia, European/worldwide patents via the EPO Open Patent Services (OPS), and global patent and scholarly literature via Lens.org. Together these cover 130+ million patent documents with unique scholarly-patent citation linkage.

AU patent search

The au_patent_search tool searches Australian patents via IP Australia’s API.

Basic search

{
  "query": "solar panel cleaning robot",
  "searchMode": "QUICK_NO_ABSTRACT",
  "limit": 20
}

Response:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "AU-P-2023100456",
      "applicationNumber": "2023100456",
      "jurisdiction": "AU",
      "title": "Autonomous cleaning apparatus for photovoltaic panels",
      "status": "accepted",
      "filingDate": "2023-03-15",
      "pctNumber": "PCT/AU2023/050123",
      "applicants": [
        { "name": "SolarClean Pty Ltd" }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "pagination": {
    "hasMore": true,
    "cursor": "1",
    "totalResults": 42
  },
  "metadata": {
    "query": "solar panel cleaning robot",
    "searchMode": "QUICK_NO_ABSTRACT",
    "totalResults": 42,
    "executionTimeMs": 780
  }
}

Search modes

Mode	Speed	Scope
QUICK_NO_ABSTRACT (default)	Fastest	Title, applicant, number fields
QUICK_ABSTRACT	Fast	Adds abstract text matching
ADVANCED_NO_FULL_TEXT	Moderate	Enables field-specific matching
ADVANCED_FULL_TEXT	Slowest	Full-text including claims and description

Start with QUICK_NO_ABSTRACT for speed. If results are too narrow, switch to QUICK_ABSTRACT to include abstract matching.

What you can search

The AU patent search accepts:

• Keywords — matched against title (and abstract in ABSTRACT mode)
• Application numbers — direct lookup (e.g., “2023100456”)
• PCT numbers — international filing numbers (e.g., “PCT/AU2023/050123”)
• Inventor names — find patents by inventor
• Applicant names — find patents by applicant/owner

For multi-word queries, the tool applies post-filtering to ensure all significant words appear in the results. The API itself performs OR-matching, so “Johnson Johnson” without filtering would return every patent mentioning any single “Johnson”.

Pagination

AU patent search returns up to 50 results per page. Use the cursor for pagination:

{
  "query": "lithium battery",
  "searchMode": "QUICK_ABSTRACT",
  "limit": 50,
  "cursor": "1"
}

EP patent search

The ep_patent_search tool queries the EPO Open Patent Services, which covers 130+ million patent documents from the Espacenet collection worldwide.

CQL query syntax

Note

EPO’s CQL syntax differs from standard SQL or Lucene queries. Field prefixes use = (not :) and boolean operators must be uppercase (AND, OR, NOT).

EPO uses CQL (Common Query Language) for field-specific searching:

Field	Prefix	Example
Title	ti=	ti=robot
Abstract	ab=	ab=machine learning
Applicant	pa=	pa=samsung
Inventor	in=	in=smith
Publication number	pn=	pn=EP1234567
Application number	num=	num=EP20200123456
IPC classification	ic=	ic=A61B
CPC classification	cpc=	cpc=Y02E10/50

Combine fields with AND, OR, and NOT:

{
  "query": "ti=robot AND pa=samsung AND ic=B25J",
  "limit": 25
}

Simple keyword search

Without field prefixes, the query searches across title and abstract:

{
  "query": "autonomous vehicle lidar",
  "limit": 20
}

Response:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "EP-3456789",
      "applicationNumber": "EP20210123456",
      "jurisdiction": "EP",
      "title": "LIDAR-based obstacle detection system for autonomous vehicles",
      "status": "published",
      "applicants": [
        { "name": "Waymo LLC" }
      ],
      "inventors": [
        { "name": "Smith, John" }
      ],
      "ipcClassification": [
        { "code": "G01S17/93", "sequence": 1 },
        { "code": "B60W30/095", "sequence": 2 }
      ],
      "cpcClassification": [
        { "code": "G01S17/931", "sequence": 1 }
      ],
      "familyId": "78901234",
      "filingDate": "2021-06-15"
    }
  ],
  "pagination": {
    "totalResults": 1580,
    "offset": 0,
    "limit": 20,
    "hasMore": true
  },
  "metadata": {
    "query": "autonomous vehicle lidar",
    "totalResults": 1580,
    "executionTimeMs": 1200
  }
}

Pagination

EP patent search uses offset-based pagination (not cursors):

{
  "query": "ti=robot AND pa=samsung",
  "limit": 25,
  "offset": 25
}

The maximum offset + limit range is 100 results per query. For deeper result sets, refine your search terms.

Patent family search

The patent_family_search tool finds worldwide patent family members via INPADOC. Given a patent publication number from any jurisdiction, it returns all related filings worldwide.

This is a cross-jurisdiction capability: input a US patent number and discover related filings in EP, JP, CN, KR, and more.

{
  "publicationNumber": "EP1234567A1"
}

Response:

{
  "queryPatent": "EP1234567A1",
  "totalMembers": 8,
  "members": [
    {
      "jurisdiction": "EP",
      "publicationNumber": "EP1234567A1",
      "applicationNumber": "EP20010123456",
      "familyId": "26789012",
      "kindCode": "A1",
      "publicationDate": "2003-09-03"
    },
    {
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "publicationNumber": "US7654321B2",
      "applicationNumber": "US10234567",
      "familyId": "26789012",
      "kindCode": "B2",
      "publicationDate": "2010-02-02"
    },
    {
      "jurisdiction": "JP",
      "publicationNumber": "JP2003256789A",
      "applicationNumber": "JP20020123456",
      "familyId": "26789012",
      "kindCode": "A"
    }
  ],
  "jurisdictions": ["CN", "EP", "JP", "KR", "US"]
}

Use EPODOC format for the publication number (e.g., “EP1234567A1”, “US7654321B2”). If you do not know the number, use ep_patent_search first to find it.

Lens.org patent search

The lens_patent_search tool queries Lens.org’s patent collection, which covers 100+ jurisdictions and uniquely links patents to scholarly literature.

Tip

Lens.org is the only IPKit provider that connects patents to academic citations. Use it when you need to trace the research behind an invention or find scholarly prior art that patent-only databases miss.

When to use Lens vs EPO

Use case	Best provider
European patent search with CQL syntax	EPO (ep_patent_search)
Australian patent lookup	IP Australia (au_patent_search)
Global search across 100+ jurisdictions	Lens.org (lens_patent_search)
Scholarly-patent citation analysis	Lens.org (lens_prior_art)
Patent family members via INPADOC	EPO (patent_family_search)

Basic keyword search

{
  "query": "CRISPR gene editing therapeutic",
  "limit": 20
}

You can also filter by jurisdiction, date range, applicant, and classification codes. See the lens_patent_search reference for all parameters.

Getting patent details

Use lens_patent_status for full details on a Lens patent, including citations, legal status, and linked scholarly works:

{
  "lensId": "024-685-197-851-697"
}

Prior art with scholarly linkage

The lens_prior_art tool is unique to Lens.org — it finds scholarly publications that cite or are cited by a patent, bridging the gap between patent literature and academic research.

This is valuable for:

• Freedom-to-operate analysis — find academic papers that predate a patent’s priority date
• Invalidity searches — locate prior art in scholarly literature that patent databases miss
• Technology landscape mapping — understand the research foundation behind a patent portfolio

{
  "lensId": "024-685-197-851-697"
}

The response includes both patent-to-scholarly and scholarly-to-patent citation links, with metadata for each cited work.

IPC and CPC classification

Patents use two classification systems:

IPC (International Patent Classification)

A hierarchical system maintained by WIPO. Structure: Section/Class/Subclass/Group/Subgroup.

Example: G06F 3/01

• G = Physics
• 06 = Computing
• F = Electrical digital data processing
• 3/01 = Input arrangements for user interaction

CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification)

A more granular extension of IPC maintained jointly by the EPO and USPTO. Same hierarchical structure but with additional subgroups.

Example: Y02E 10/50

• Y02 = Climate change mitigation technologies
• E = Energy
• 10/50 = Photovoltaic energy

Use ic= for IPC and cpc= for CPC in EP patent search queries.

Patent lifecycle

Australian patents follow this lifecycle:

1. Filed — application submitted (standard or provisional)
2. Published — application made publicly available (18 months from priority date)
3. Under examination — examiner reviewing patentability
4. Accepted — claims found patentable, open for opposition
5. Sealed (granted) — patent rights conferred
6. Expired — 20-year term ended (or 25 years for pharmaceutical extensions)

EP patents follow a similar path with examination at the EPO. After grant, they must be validated in individual countries.

Use au_patent_status or ep_patent_status to get the current lifecycle stage and detailed status history for any patent.

Prior art search strategy

When searching for prior art (existing patents relevant to an invention):

1. Start broad with keyword search to understand the landscape:

   { "query": "solar panel cleaning", "searchMode": "QUICK_ABSTRACT" }

2. Identify IPC/CPC classes from initial results, then search by classification:

   { "query": "ic=H02S40 AND ti=cleaning" }

3. Search by known competitors:

   { "query": "pa=sunpower", "limit": 50 }

4. Check patent families for any relevant hit to find worldwide filings:

   { "publicationNumber": "US10234567B2" }

5. Get full details for the most relevant patents using au_patent_status or ep_patent_status to review claims, priority dates, and related patents.

6. Search scholarly literature using lens_prior_art to find academic papers that cite or predate the patent — this catches prior art that patent-only databases miss.

7. Cross-reference with designs using au_design_search if any patents relate to product appearance.

Related tools

• au_patent_status — full details for an AU patent
• ep_patent_status — full details for an EP patent
• patent_family_search — find worldwide family members
• lens_patent_search — search 100+ jurisdictions via Lens.org
• lens_patent_status — full details for a Lens patent
• lens_prior_art — scholarly-patent citation analysis
• au_design_search — cross-reference with design registrations