robthepcguy/bigquery-patent-search

BigQuery Patent Search Skill

Fast, cloud-based patent searching across 100 million+ worldwide patents using Google BigQuery.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when users ask to:

• Search for prior art patents
• Find patents in a specific technology area
• Search by CPC classification code
• Look up patent details by publication number
• Conduct freedom-to-operate searches
• Research patent landscapes

What This Skill Does

Provides access to Google's public patent dataset:

1. Keyword Search across 100M+ patents:

   • Full-text search of titles, abstracts, claims
   • Filter by country (US, EP, JP, CN, etc.)
   • Filter by filing/grant date ranges
   • Fast cloud-based queries (< 5 seconds)

2. CPC Classification Search:

   • Search by CPC code (e.g., "G06F16/", "H04L29/06")
   • Browse patent classifications
   • Find patents in specific technical domains

3. Patent Details Retrieval:

   • Get full patent text by publication number
   • Access title, abstract, claims, description
   • View CPC codes, inventors, assignees
   • See filing and grant dates

Required Setup

This skill requires Google Cloud authentication:

Prerequisites:

1. Google Cloud Project (free to create)
2. BigQuery API enabled (free for reasonable usage)
3. Application Default Credentials configured

Setup Commands:

# Install Google Cloud SDK (if not installed)
# Visit: https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install

# Authenticate
gcloud auth application-default login

# Set project (get ID from console.cloud.google.com)
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=your-project-id

Environment Variable: Set in .env file: GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=your-project-id

How to Use

When this skill is invoked:

1. Initialize BigQuery searcher:

   import sys
   sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.environ.get('CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT', '.'), 'python'))
   from python.bigquery_search import BigQueryPatentSearch
   
   searcher = BigQueryPatentSearch()
   

2. Search by keywords:

   results = searcher.search_patents(
       query="blockchain authentication",
       limit=20,
       country="US",  # Optional: filter by country
       start_year=2020,  # Optional: filter by year
       end_year=2024
   )
   

3. Search by CPC code:

   results = searcher.search_by_cpc(
       cpc_code="G06F16/",  # CPC prefix
       limit=20,
       country="US"
   )
   

4. Get patent details:

   patent = searcher.get_patent(
       patent_number="US10123456B2"  # Publication number
   )
   

BigQuery Dataset

Uses patents-public-data.patents on Google BigQuery:

• 100M+ worldwide patents
• 12M+ US patents with full text
• Updated weekly
• Free to query (no billing for reasonable usage)

Search Result Format

Each result includes:

{
    "publication_number": "US10123456B2",
    "title": "Method and system for...",
    "abstract": "A system for...",
    "filing_date": "2019-01-15",
    "grant_date": "2020-06-30",
    "country": "US",
    "cpc_codes": ["G06F16/245", "H04L29/06"],
    "inventors": ["John Doe", "Jane Smith"],
    "assignee": "Example Corp"
}

Full patent details also include:

• claims: Full text of all claims
• description: Complete description section
• priority_date: Earliest priority date
• family_id: Patent family ID

Presentation Format

Present search results as:

PATENT SEARCH RESULTS
====================

Query: "blockchain authentication"
Found: 247 patents (showing top 20)
Date Range: 2020-2024
Country: US

[1] US10123456B2 - System for blockchain-based authentication
    Assignee: Example Corp
    Filed: 2019-01-15 | Granted: 2020-06-30
    CPC: G06F16/245, H04L29/06

    Abstract: A system for authenticating users using blockchain
    technology with distributed ledger verification...

[2] US10234567B1 - Method of secure authentication using blockchain
    ...

---

Top 5 Most Relevant:
1. US10123456B2 (95% relevance)
2. US10234567B1 (92% relevance)
...

Advanced Search Techniques

1. Boolean Operators in queries:

   • "blockchain AND authentication"
   • "encryption OR cryptography"
   • "(mobile OR wireless) AND security"

2. Phrase Search:

   • "distributed ledger technology"
   • "public key infrastructure"

3. CPC Code Hierarchies:

   • "G06F" = Computing
   • "G06F16/" = Information retrieval
   • "G06F16/245" = Structured query language

Common CPC Codes

• G06F: Computing, calculating, counting
• H04L: Digital communication
• G06Q: Business methods
• H04W: Wireless communication
• G06N: Computer systems based on specific models
• G06T: Image processing

Error Handling

If BigQuery is not configured:

1. Check if google-cloud-bigquery is installed
2. Verify authentication: gcloud auth application-default login
3. Confirm project ID in environment: GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT
4. Test with: python scripts/test_bigquery.py

Cost Considerations

BigQuery pricing:

• First 1 TiB/month: FREE
• After 1 TiB: $6.25 per TiB queried (on-demand)
• Typical query: 10-50 MB per search
• Bytes-billed ceiling: enforced per-query via PATENT_BIGQUERY_MAX_BYTES_BILLED (default 25 GiB)

Tools Available

• Bash: To run Python BigQuery searches
• Read: To load saved search results
• Write: To save patent search results
• Grep: To search through saved results