Prior-Art Search API for Invention Management Tools

A production-ready Prior-Art Search API for invention management tools, idea-to-IP platforms, and invention disclosure workflows.

Open-source core. Privacy-first. Transparent pricing. Built for pre-filing invention data.

Initiated At

Who This Is For

Built for teams building:

If your product needs to answer “Is this idea already out there?”, this API fits.

The Problem

Novelty Screening Is Hard Infrastructure for Invention Platforms

Inventors expect instant novelty feedback
Patent data is vast, complex, and constantly changing
Generic keyword search misses relevant prior art
Maintaining patent search infrastructure is expensive
Black-box tools reduce trust in early screening

A simple “check novelty” feature turns into a long-term engineering burden.

The Solution

A Plug-and-Play Prior-Art Search API

No patent ingestion.
No search infrastructure.
No black boxes.

How It Works

A simple integration designed for IP software platforms.

Submit an invention description

Your platform sends an idea summary, disclosure, or technical description to the API.

PQAI runs semantic prior-art search

The engine identifies relevant patents based on meaning, not just keywords.

Receive ranked prior art

Get structured results ranked by relevance and similarity.

Surface results in your workflow

Show prior art during idea submission, evaluation, or review stages.

What Invention Platforms Build With This

Invention management tools use the API to power:

Instant novelty checks at submission

Early-stage invention screening

Prior-art insights for review committees

IP risk reduction before filing

“Related inventions” views inside dashboards

All embedded inside your product, under your brand.

Why Invention Management Teams Choose PQAI

This is not a general-purpose vector database or a DIY RAG stack.
It’s purpose-built for patent prior-art discovery.

Built for Pre-Filing Workflows

Designed for early invention evaluation, not litigation-grade analysis.

Fast Time to Market

Integrate in days, not quarters.

Transparent by Design

Open-source core. Auditable behavior.

Security-First

Designed for confidential invention disclosures.

Transparent, Predictable Pricing

Usage-based. No hidden fees. Easy to model growth.

Simple, Transparent Pricing

Straightforward usage-based pricing designed for invention platforms of all sizes.

Security & Data Handling

Built for sensitive pre-filing invention data.

Security is treated as baseline infrastructure.

Hear from our customers

The use of search terms, applicants and patent classes is a common way of formulating a search pattern. However, we have found that knowledge of patent classes and how they relate to subject matter is not so widespread, especially among users who do not deal with patents on a daily basis. Among other things, PQAI suggests appropriate classes based on a text, which is extremely helpful and time-saving. It also widens the scope of the search.

We use PQAI a lot and can highly recommend it to other users.

PQAI is a fantastic project that provides a user with a powerful patent search tool at their fingertips. It is by far the easiest and most effective way to quickly track down relevant IP utilising natural language queries, surpassing all the other free services I have tried in this field, and even some paid databases. Its API is also a great feature that has been integrated into some of our in-house tools, allowing our designers and researchers to quickly get a view of the patent landscape for a particular idea, without the need to switch their attention to another platform. In a world where some are suspicious of the rise and power of AI, it is wonderful to see it being put to good use like this and freely available to everyone interested.

As an AI Fellow at R42 Group, I spearheaded the development of a cutting-edge patent search tool tailored for the life sciences industry. Leveraging PQAI's robust API as the backend system, I was able to create an innovative solution that significantly enhances patent search capabilities. The swift and expert support from the PQAI team played a crucial role in the success of this project, enabling seamless integration and rapid development.

I value PQAI a lot because it offers a powerful to retrieve patents via a semantic search. My impression is that this semantic search is carried out within the abstracts.

I find the various endpoints very useful, for example that endpoint which returns independent claims specifically.

really liked the experience with PQAI so far! I'm primarily using the semantic search and semantic CPC lookup, mostly through the API and sometimes over the website. Response times are really good, and the API has a nice developer experience.

Designed for Early-Stage and Growing Platforms

You can start small, integrate quickly, and scale safely.

A startup building an invention intake tool

A university TTO platform

An innovation team managing internal disclosures

Get Started

If your invention management tool needs prior-art search under the hood, PQAI gives you the fastest path to production.