Use Google Patents Inventor, Assignee & Citation Lookup with Python

Search Google's aggregated patent index by keyword, inventor, assignee, classification code, or citation graph, and get abstract, claims, dates, family, and citations for each matching patent.

1. Choose the data you need

Review the published README for supported collection modes, examples, and limits. The recipe below uses the current published input definition.

2. Prepare a source-based input

This JSON contains published prefills and required-field defaults. Review every value for your task before running it; it is not a promise of successful collection.

{
  "assignees": [],
  "citationDepth": 1,
  "citationDirection": "both",
  "classifications": [],
  "countryCodes": [],
  "dateType": "priority",
  "detailLanguage": "en",
  "documentLanguages": [],
  "fetchFullDetails": false,
  "grouping": "family",
  "includeNonPatentLiterature": false,
  "includeSimilar": true,
  "inventors": [],
  "litigation": "ANY",
  "maxItems": 3,
  "mode": "searchPatents",
  "patentType": "ANY",
  "publicationNumbers": [],
  "searchQueries": [
    "quantum computing"
  ],
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "status": "ANY",
  "urls": []
}

Download input.example.json and save your reviewed copy as input.json.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`mode`	string	required	Which lookup path to use.
`searchQueries`	array	optional	One or more keyword queries. Google Patents syntax works: quoted phrases, OR, minus, TI=(title words), CL=(claim words), CPC=H04L9/06.
`publicationNumbers`	array	optional	Publication numbers such as US11704715B2, EP3789012A1, WO2020012345A1. Used by byPatent, byCitation and byFamily.
`inventors`	array	optional	Inventor names. The actor runs one search per name.
`assignees`	array	optional	Assignee or applicant names. The actor runs one search per name.
`classifications`	array	optional	CPC codes or prefixes such as H04L9/06, G06N3/00, H01M10. Combined with a keyword query when both are set.
`urls`	array	optional	Patent pages (/patent/US.../en) or search pages (/?q=...&assignee=...&country=...). All search filters in the URL are honoured.
`countryCodes`	array	optional	Two-letter office codes: US, EP, WO, JP, CN, KR, DE, GB, FR, CA, AU, IN and more. Empty means all offices.
`documentLanguages`	array	optional	Original publication languages: ENGLISH, GERMAN, FRENCH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, KOREAN, CHINESE, RUSSIAN, PORTUGUESE, ITALIAN, ARABIC, DUTCH, SWEDISH, FINNISH, NORWEGIAN, DANISH. This filters documents; it does not translate them.
`detailLanguage`	string	optional	Language of the patent page text. Google translates where available.
`status`	string	optional	Any status, granted patents only, or published applications only.
`patentType`	string	optional	Utility-style patents or design patents.
`dateType`	string	optional	Which date the From and To fields apply to.
`dateFrom`	string	optional	Earliest date, inclusive. Leave empty for no lower bound.
`dateTo`	string	optional	Latest date, inclusive. Leave empty for no upper bound.
`sortBy`	string	optional	Google's relevance, newest first, or oldest first.
`grouping`	string	optional	One row per patent family (Google's default) or one row per publication.
`includeSimilar`	boolean	optional	Google mixes similar documents into search results. Keep them (label matchType=similar) or drop them.
`includeNonPatentLiterature`	boolean	optional	Also return Google Scholar non-patent literature rows for each keyword query.
`litigation`	string	optional	Only patents with related litigation, only patents with no known litigation, or any.
`citationDirection`	string	optional	Which side of the citation graph to walk in byCitation mode.
`citationDepth`	integer	optional	How many citation hops to follow in byCitation mode: 1, 2 or 3.
`fetchFullDetails`	boolean	optional	For search modes, also fetch each patent page for claims, legal status, citations, family and other detail fields.
`maxItems`	integer	optional	Hard cap on emitted records. Google Patents exposes about 1,000 results per query; use date, office or CPC filters to go deeper.
`maxItemsPerQuery`	integer	optional	Optional cap for each query / inventor / assignee / CPC search. 0 means only the global Max items cap applies.

3. Start an Actor run

Set APIFY_TOKEN in your environment. Python 3.10 or newer is sufficient; this recipe uses no third-party packages.

Execution may incur charges. Review current pricing on Apify. The request asks for a 120-second timeout and a charge limit; these settings are subject to Apify’s pricing and do not guarantee an all-inclusive spending cap.

import json
import os
import urllib.request

# Save the schema-derived example as input.json; review and edit it first.
with open("input.json", encoding="utf-8") as stream:
    actor_input = json.load(stream)

token = os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"]
request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/qGwyVKXBvzDrcnIAf/runs?timeout=120&maxTotalChargeUsd=0.50",
    data=json.dumps(actor_input).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + token, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    method="POST",
)
# This starts a potentially billable run. Do not automatically retry this POST.
with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=40) as response:
    run = json.load(response)["data"]
print("Run ID:", run["id"])
print("Status:", run["status"])
# Inspect and download results in Apify Console once the run succeeds.

4. Inspect the actual results

Open the run in Apify Console and wait for a successful completion. Use the published output schema to locate results and the dataset schema to understand declared views. Missing or optional record fields must not be treated as guaranteed values.

One dataset with patent records plus optional citation, family-member and non-patent-literature rows. Patent rows include title, abstract, claims, inventors, assignees, CPC classes, dates, legal status, legal events, citations, family, figures and PDF links.

Questions before you run

Which inputs are required?

The published required fields are mode

What does this guide verify?

The fields, prefills, and schema links are rendered from the published build. This is a usage recipe, not a paid live extraction test. Source availability and collection results can vary.

What if the run request times out?

Check Apify Console before retrying. The first request may already have created a run. Do not automatically repeat a run-creation POST.

Open on Apify Full Actor reference

Generated from source build N7bSR7wWMs9dxceBg and its README and schemas. Source changes regenerate this guide; no third-party editorial claims are inferred.