# USPTO PAIR Patent Scraper (`parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes patent application records from USPTO PAIR by keyword, assignee, inventor, or country. Returns each record as a flat row with status, dates, and bibliographic data.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 89.7% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $19.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### USPTO PAIR Patent Scraper

**Scrape patent application data from USPTO PAIR by keyword, assignee, inventor, or country, up to a million records per run.** Each record returns the application status, priority dates, assignee, inventor, and full bibliographic details. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The USPTO's Patent Application Information Retrieval system holds the legal status and history of millions of patents, but manually searching and compiling this data is slow and repetitive. This actor reads the public PAIR search interface directly, letting you query by free-text keyword, assignee, inventor, or country code, and returns each matching application in one fixed schema. No API key or registration is needed.

| Who uses it | What they scrape USPTO PAIR for |
|---|---|
| Patent attorneys | Checking the prosecution status of a competitor's patent family before filing an office action response. |
| IP portfolio managers | Auditing a company's own granted patents and pending applications across multiple jurisdictions. |
| Market researchers | Identifying which companies are actively patenting in a specific technology area like solar panels or AI chips. |
| Academic researchers | Building a dataset of patent grants and applications to analyze innovation trends over time. |

### What it does

This Actor collects patent application records from USPTO PAIR by keyword, assignee, inventor, or country, and returns each one as a flat row with its bibliographic data and status.

- 🔍 **Keyword search:** Free-text query on the full patent record, with support for exact phrase matching using double quotes.
- 🏢 **Assignee filter:** Narrow results to patents held by a specific company or individual.
- 👤 **Inventor filter:** Find all applications listing a particular inventor.
- 🌐 **Country filter:** Restrict the search to a single patent office, such as the USPTO, EPO, WIPO, or JPO.
- 📅 **Date range filter:** Limit results to applications with a priority date within a specific YYYY-MM-DD window.
- 📊 **Status filter:** Choose to see only granted patents, only pending applications, or both.
- 🗂️ **Sort order:** Retrieve results sorted by newest first, oldest first, or by relevance to the search query.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with USPTO PAIR data

**📈 Monitor competitor patent activity.**

A patent attorney runs a weekly search for a competitor's assignee name, filtered to applications only, to spot new filings early and advise their client on potential freedom-to-operate risks.

**📊 Build a technology landscape dataset.**

A market researcher scrapes all granted patents containing the phrase "solid-state battery" filed in the last five years, then analyzes the assignee field to map the competitive landscape.

**✅ Audit an internal IP portfolio.**

An IP manager searches for their company's name as the assignee across multiple countries to verify that all expected applications are correctly recorded and to check their current status.

**🔬 Gather data for academic research.**

A PhD candidate collects all WIPO applications mentioning a specific gene sequence, filtering by date range, to study the evolution of patent filings in that field over a decade.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key required** | Access public PAIR data without registering an application or managing OAuth tokens. |
| **Multi-country search** | Filter by over 30 patent offices, including the US, China, Japan, Korea, EPO, and WIPO. |
| **Structured output** | Every record is flattened into a consistent row, ready for analysis in Excel, SQL, or a BI tool. |
| **High volume** | Collect up to a million patent applications in a single run for large-scale landscape analysis. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets USPTO PAIR the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | USPTO PAIR Patent Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When USPTO PAIR changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a free-text keyword query, assignee name, inventor name, and country code, alone or together, and filters run as each record is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 10,
 "query": "solar panel",
 "country": "US",
 "sort": "new"
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 200,
 "query": "solar panel",
 "country": "US",
 "sort": "new"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.021 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [USPTO PAIR Patent Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to USPTO PAIR through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that your search terms are spelled correctly and that your filters are not too restrictive. Try removing the assignee or inventor filter, or broadening your date range, to see if any records match a simpler query first.

**The actor returns fewer results than I expected.**

The PAIR search interface may return a limited set of results for very broad queries. Try breaking your search into smaller batches by using narrower date ranges or adding more specific keywords.

**I get an error when using special characters in my query.**

Stick to alphanumeric characters and double quotes for exact phrases. Some special characters may not be handled correctly by the PAIR search backend. Try simplifying your query.

**The actor runs but the dataset is empty.**

Verify that the country code you selected is valid and that the patent office's PAIR system is accessible. Some non-US offices may have different availability. Try running the same query with the country set to US to confirm the actor is working.

**My date filter is not working as expected.**

Ensure your dates are in the strict YYYY-MM-DD format. The filter applies to the priority date, not the filing or publication date. If you need to filter by a different date type, you may need to do that in post-processing.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is USPTO PAIR? | USPTO PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) is the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's public system for viewing the status, documents, and history of published patent applications and granted patents. |
| Does this scraper require a USPTO API key? | No. This actor reads the public PAIR search interface directly. You do not need to register an application, get an API key, or manage any authentication. |
| Can I search for patents from countries other than the US? | Yes. The country filter supports over 30 patent offices, including the EPO, WIPO, China, Japan, Korea, Germany, and many more. Leave the country field empty to search worldwide. |
| What data fields does the actor return? | Each row includes the application number, title, status, assignee, inventor, priority date, filing date, publication date, and other bibliographic details available in the PAIR record. |
| How do I search for an exact phrase? | Wrap your search terms in double quotes in the query field. For example, "machine learning" will return only records containing that exact phrase. |
| Can I filter by both assignee and inventor at the same time? | Yes. All filter fields (query, assignee, inventor, country, status, date range, and language) can be combined in a single run to narrow your results precisely. |
| What is the maximum number of records I can scrape? | You can set the maximum applications field up to 1,000,000 per run. The actor will stop when it reaches that limit or when no more matching records are found. |
| What export formats are supported? | Your dataset can be exported in CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML format from the Apify platform. |
| Does this actor get the full patent document or PDF? | This actor collects the bibliographic data and status from the PAIR search results. It does not download the full patent specification PDFs or the file wrapper documents. |
| Can I schedule this scraper to run automatically? | Yes. Once you have configured the input, you can set up a recurring schedule in Apify to run the actor daily, weekly, or at any custom interval. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many applications to collect per run.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Free-text keywords (e.g. "solar panel"). Use double quotes for exact phrases.

## `country` (type: `string`):

ISO country code (e.g. US, CA, IN, CN, JP, EP, WO). Leave empty for worldwide.

## `assignee` (type: `string`):

Filter by patent assignee (company or person)

## `inventor` (type: `string`):

Filter by inventor name

## `status` (type: `string`):

GRANT, APPLICATION, or empty for both

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD format

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD format

## `language` (type: `string`):

Filter by language code

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Sort by publication date

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "query": "solar panel",
  "country": "US",
  "sort": "new"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Scraped records

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 10,
    "query": "solar panel",
    "country": "US",
    "sort": "new"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "maxItems": 10,
    "query": "solar panel",
    "country": "US",
    "sort": "new",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "query": "solar panel",
  "country": "US",
  "sort": "new"
}' |
apify call parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/uspto-pair-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/UTmJo08X3vdfUMA9e/builds/7US15Xli2ePLu06Sb/openapi.json