# patsnap/patent-literature-search-mcp [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🔬 Research  
**Repository:** https://github.com/patsnap/patent-literature-search-mcp  
**GitHub Stars:** 188  
**Views:** 0  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/patsnap-patent-literature-search-mcp

## Description
Natural-language patent and scientific literature search across 200M+ patents and 216M+ papers from 170+ jurisdictions, with semantic/BM25 search, structured filters, and record retrieval. Hosted Streamable HTTP endpoint and Dockerized stdio bridge; requires a free Patsnap API key.

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **patsnap_search** — Search either patents or scientific literature in a
- **patsnap_fetch** — Retrieve a patent or literature record as Markdown using

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Remote MCP endpoint (confidence: high). Install path detected from listing signals. Add as a URL/SSE server in your client:

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "patent-literature-search-mcp": {
    "url": "https://smithery.ai/badge/openpatsnap/patsnap-patent-literature-search)](https://smithery.ai/servers/openpatsnap/patsnap-patent-literature-search"
  }
}
```

## Documentation & README

# Patent & Literature Search MCP

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.patsnap/patent-literature-search-mcp -->

[![Smithery badge](https://smithery.ai/badge/openpatsnap/patsnap-patent-literature-search)](https://smithery.ai/servers/openpatsnap/patsnap-patent-literature-search)

Search global patents and scientific literature in natural language,
directly inside Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible AI tool. The MCP
supports semantic, keyword, BM25, and structured search, then retrieves
selected records as AI-readable Markdown.

> **Start free:** Register on [Patsnap Open Platform](https://open.patsnap.com)
> to receive **10,000 free credits**. No credit card is required.

## About Patsnap

Patsnap is a global innovation intelligence platform covering patents,
scientific literature, chemistry, life sciences, and other R&D data.

To explore Patsnap data interactively, try
[Eureka](https://eureka.patsnap.com), Patsnap's AI-native R&D
assistant. To access data programmatically, use the MCP servers or
REST API via [Patsnap Open Platform](https://open.patsnap.com).

## What It Does

Patent & Literature Search MCP gives your AI agent direct access to
Patsnap's patent and academic-literature databases. A single natural-language
research request can cover both corpora and combine the results for AI
reasoning.

- **Patent search** — keyword, assignee, inventor, IPC class, legal
  status, date range, and citation filters
- **Literature search** — semantic and keyword search across
  peer-reviewed scientific papers
- **Cross-domain research** — orchestrate patent and paper searches using the
  same tool and combine the structured results for AI reasoning
- **Natural language input** — describe your problem or topic in
  plain English or Chinese; the MCP constructs the search strategy
- **Precision filtering** — filter by assignee, inventor, legal
  status, jurisdiction, date range, and citation count simultaneously

## Data Coverage

This MCP is backed by Patsnap's global patent and scientific-literature
coverage.

### Patent coverage

| Data-source group | Representative sources | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| International and regional authorities | WIPO/PCT, EPO, ARIPO, EAPO, OAPI, GCC | Applications, grants, and regional records |
| Major national authorities | USPTO, CNIPA, JPO, KIPO, DPMA, INPI, UKIPO, CIPO, IP Australia | Applications, grants, designs, and utility models where applicable |
| Additional jurisdictions | Patent authorities across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa | Bibliographic records and authority-supported document types |

Patent data coverage includes:

| Data type | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Bibliography | Publication and application identifiers, titles, dates, applicants, assignees, inventors, and classifications |
| Full text | Abstracts, claims, descriptions, and other document text |
| PDF | Original patent-document coverage for supported authorities |
| Legal events | Status changes and patent lifecycle events |
| File wrapper | Available prosecution and examination records |
| License | Available patent licensing records |
| Litigation | Available patent litigation records |

Coverage is refreshed frequently, with patent data updated daily.

### Scientific-literature coverage

| Source type | Representative data sources and publications |
|---|---|
| Biomedical and clinical literature | PubMed, The Lancet, BMJ, JAMA, Blood, Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gastroenterology |
| Multidisciplinary journals | Nature, Science, Scientific Reports, PLOS ONE, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
| Chemistry and materials science | Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, Journal of Chemical Physics, Chemical & Engineering News Archive |
| Physics and engineering | Physical Review Letters, Physical Review B, Journal of Applied Physics, AIP Conference Proceedings, SPIE Proceedings |
| Preprints and repositories | arXiv, HAL, SSRN, Zenodo, DOAJ |
| Research datasets and specialist sources | ENCODE Datasets, Worldwide Protein Data Bank, OSTI, RePEc, GBIF, PsycEXTRA |

Literature records include bibliographic metadata, abstracts, citation
metadata, and PDF coverage. The collection spans journal articles,
preprints, conference proceedings, repositories, datasets, and other
non-patent literature.

See [Patsnap Global Data Coverage](https://open.patsnap.com/data-coverage)
for the current authority-level and publication-level coverage matrix.

## What You Can Search

`patsnap_search` searches either patents or scientific literature in one
call. Its current input supports:

| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| `semantic_query` | Searches a natural-language technical description or concept |
| `search_strategy` | Combines `semantic`, `keyword`, and `filter` strategies |
| `keywords` | Runs precise keyword and BM25 matching |
| `source` | Selects the `patent` or `paper` corpus |
| `filters` | Applies provider-supported structured filters |
| `sort` | Sorts by relevance or a provider-supported field |
| `offset`, `limit` | Paginates results; up to 100 results per call |

Patent filters may include assignees, inventors, IPC classifications,
jurisdictions, filing or publication dates, legal status, and citation
conditions. Exact filter names and operators depend on the current hosted
tool schema.

## What You Can Retrieve

`patsnap_fetch` retrieves up to 100 selected result URLs or patent
publication numbers as Markdown.

### Patent modules

| Module | Content that may be returned |
|---|---|
| `basic` | Bibliographic data, title, abstract, claims, description, and other available record content |
| `citation` | Patent citations and non-patent literature references |
| `legal` | Available patent legal data and events |
| `family` | Available patent-family information |
| `include_images` | Signed patent-drawing URLs when available |

### Citation data

The `citation` module can retrieve citation data for selected patents. Where
available, this may include:

- patents cited by the selected patent;
- patents citing the selected patent;
- applicant, examiner, or search-authority citations;
- citation categories such as X, Y, and A;
- cited non-patent literature; and
- DOI and other bibliographic metadata for cited literature.

Citation direction and type should be determined from the returned record
labels. Availability and completeness vary by jurisdiction and patent.

### Literature records

Literature records support the `basic` module and may include title,
abstract metadata, authors, affiliations, publication, publication date,
DOI, and other available bibliographic identifiers.

## Quick Start

### 1. Get your API key

Register at [Patsnap Open Platform](https://open.patsnap.com) and
generate a free API key from the
[Patent & Literature Search MCP page](https://open.patsnap.com/marketplace/mcp-servers/patsnap-search).
New accounts include 10,000 free credits. No credit card required.

### 2. Add to Claude Code

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http search-tool \
  "https://connect.patsnap.com/2b0355/logic-mcp?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY"
```

Restart Claude Code and type `/mcp` to confirm it loaded.

### 3. Add to Cursor or Windsurf

Add the following to your MCP configuration file:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patsnap_patent_literature": {
      "url": "https://connect.patsnap.com/2b0355/logic-mcp?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY",
      "type": "streamableHttp"
    }
  }
}
```

Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with your key from Patsnap Open Platform.

## Run the Containerized MCP Bridge

The repository includes a local stdio bridge for environments that
install or deploy MCP servers from source. It exposes static tool
definitions without credentials and forwards tool calls to the hosted
Patsnap Streamable HTTP service when `PATSNAP_API_KEY` is configured.

### Docker

```bash
docker build -t patsnap-patent-literature-search .
docker run --rm -i \
  -e PATSNAP_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY \
  patsnap-patent-literature-search
```

MCP client configuration:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patsnap_patent_literature": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "-e",
        "PATSNAP_API_KEY",
        "ghcr.io/patsnap/patent-literature-search-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PATSNAP_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

The GitHub Actions workflow publishes version tags such as `v1.1.0`
to GHCR as both `1.1.0` and `latest`.

An optional live upstream check can be run manually from GitHub
Actions. Add `PATSNAP_TEST_API_KEY` as a repository Actions secret,
start the workflow with **Run workflow**, and enable
`run_upstream`. Pull requests never receive or use this secret.

## Tools

- `patsnap_search` — Search either patents or scientific literature in a
  request. Supports natural-language and semantic queries, precise keyword
  and BM25-based text search, and filters such as assignee, inventor, IPC
  classification, legal status, jurisdiction, date range, and citations.
  A single research request may invoke patent and literature searches and
  combine their results.
- `patsnap_fetch` — Retrieve a patent or literature record as Markdown using
  one or more result URLs. Patent records can also be fetched by publication
  number and may include bibliographic data, claims, descriptions, drawings,
  citations, legal data, and patent-family data. Literature records include
  core bibliographic and abstract metadata.

## Development

Requires Node.js 20 or newer.

```bash
npm ci
npm test
npm start
```

The test suite verifies:

- static tool discovery without an API key;
- argument validation and upstream forwarding;
- structured MCP error handling;
- a real stdio `initialize` and `tools/list` handshake.

To verify the container locally:

```bash
docker build -t patent-literature-search-mcp:test .
npm run test:docker
```

The server writes MCP JSON-RPC only to stdout. Application errors are
returned as MCP tool results, and credentials are never included in logs.

## Glama Release

After claiming the server on Glama:

1. Open the server's Dockerfile Admin page.
2. Select the repository-root `Dockerfile`.
3. Add `PATSNAP_API_KEY` as a secret deployment environment variable.
4. Use `node src/index.js` as the command if Glama does not infer the
   Dockerfile `CMD`.
5. Run **Deploy**, verify the MCP build test, and create a release.

## Example Prompts

```
What is Tesla actually working on in battery technology — show me
their recent patent filings, group by technology area, and identify
who is leading each.
```

```
Which GLP-1 receptor agonist patents are expiring before 2028,
and what does recent literature say about next-generation mechanisms?
```

```
My EV battery loses 40% range in cold weather. What technical
solutions exist in patents and academic papers?
```

## Resources

- [Patsnap](https://www.patsnap.com)
- [Patsnap Open Platform](https://open.patsnap.com)
- [Patent & Literature Search MCP](https://open.patsnap.com/marketplace/mcp-servers/patsnap-search)
- [Eureka](https://eureka.patsnap.com)
- [All Patsnap MCP Servers](https://github.com/patsnap/mcp)

## License

Apache-2.0

---

Powered by [Patsnap](https://www.patsnap.com). Innovate with Confidence.