# What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for patent-search services (small businesses) on 2026-09-16

## In short

On 2026-09-16, Claude (Anthropic) with web search was asked "best patent-search services for small businesses". It named 10 brands, in this order: PatSnap, Derwent, Orbit, Google Patents, WIPO PATENTSCOPE, Espacenet.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Question | best patent-search services for small businesses |
| Asked on | 2026-09-16 |
| Engine | Claude (Anthropic) with web search |
| Model | claude-opus-5 |
| Brands named | 10 |
| Sources cited | 9 |
| Audience | small businesses |
| Coverage | Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included. |
| Last verified | 2026-09-16 |

Page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/patent-search-services-small-businesses-2026-09-16
Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

## The answer, as recorded

Asked on 2026-09-16 through Claude (Anthropic) with web search (model claude-opus-5).

> Short version: for a small business, the right answer is almost never one of the big enterprise platforms (PatSnap, Derwent, Orbit run roughly **$25K-$80K/year** - [comparison](https://beyondelevation.com/blog/posts/patsnap-vs-derwent-vs-orbit-comparison/)). Here's what I'd actually use, in order:
> 
> ## Start free - do your own knockout search
> 
> **1. Google Patents** - where I'd tell anyone to start. Full-text search across US, EPO, WIPO/PCT, China, Japan and more, machine-translated, no signup, free. For a first "has someone already done this?" pass, it's genuinely the best tool, not just the cheapest. ([overview](https://patentext.com/blog/free-patent-software/))
> 
> **2. USPTO Patent Public Search** - the official database and the one examiners' art is indexed against. Slower to learn than Google Patents, but it's authoritative for US filings and status/file-wrapper data. ([uspto.gov/patents/search](https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search))
> 
> **3. Espacenet (EPO) and WIPO PATENTSCOPE** - free, and better than Google Patents for European and PCT coverage. Worth a pass if your market isn't US-only.
> 
> **4. Lens.org** - free tier, good for linking patents to scholarly literature and for seeing

## Brands named, in the order the engine gave

| Position | Brand | How it was named |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PatSnap | compared |
| 2 | Derwent | compared |
| 3 | Orbit | compared |
| 4 | Google Patents | mentioned |
| 5 | WIPO PATENTSCOPE | mentioned |
| 6 | Espacenet | compared |
| 7 | PATENTSCOPE | compared |
| 8 | Lens.org | mentioned |
| 9 | UpCounsel | mentioned |
| 10 | Patentext | mentioned |

## Sources the engine cited

- https://beyondelevation.com/blog/posts/patsnap-vs-derwent-vs-orbit-comparison/ (other)
- https://patentext.com/blog/free-patent-software/ (vendor)
- https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search (reference)
- https://www.ipiry.com/guides/patent-search-cost (other)
- https://www.upcounsel.com/patent-search-cost (vendor)
- https://www.klemchuk.com/flat-fee-patent-search-lp (other)
- https://www.kaufholdpatentgroup.com/fees/ (other)
- https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/patent-trademark-resource-centers (reference)
- https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/using-legal-services/pro-bono/patent-pro-bono-program (reference)

The question page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/patent-search-services/small-businesses

Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.