{"question": "best patent-search services for startups", "category": "patent-search-services", "category_name": "patent-search services", "audience": "startups", "audience_name": "startups", "engine": "Claude (Anthropic) with web search", "model": "claude-opus-5", "asked_at": "2026-09-07T23:39:18Z", "permalink": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/patent-search-services-startups-2026-09-07", "question_page": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/patent-search-services/startups", "brands_named": [{"position": 1, "brand": "Google", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 2, "brand": "Google Patents", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 3, "brand": "PQAI", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 4, "brand": "Espacenet", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 5, "brand": "Lens.org", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 6, "brand": "Cardinal Intellectual Property", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 7, "brand": "Ensemble IP", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 8, "brand": "Landon IP", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 9, "brand": "Clarivate", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 10, "brand": "Derwent", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 11, "brand": "GreyB", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 12, "brand": "GreyB / Sagacious IP", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 13, "brand": "Sagacious IP", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 14, "brand": "IPRally", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 15, "brand": "Patlytics", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 16, "brand": "Patentext", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 17, "brand": "Solve Intelligence", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 18, "brand": "XLSCOUT", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 19, "brand": "PatSnap", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 20, "brand": "Questel", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 21, "brand": "Questel Orbit", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 22, "brand": "Orbit", "label": "mentioned"}], "sources_cited": [{"url": "https://projectpq.ai/5-free-and-possibly-more-efficient-alternatives-to-google-patents/", "domain": "projectpq.ai", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://worldwide.espacenet.com/", "domain": "worldwide.espacenet.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://www.patseer.com/free-and-paid-patent-databases-2026-complete-guide/", "domain": "patseer.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search/patent-public-search", "domain": "uspto.gov", "source_type": "reference"}, {"url": "https://www.cypris.ai/insights/patsnap-alternatives-8-tools-for-patent-research-intelligence", "domain": "cypris.ai", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://projectpq.ai/top-patent-search-apis-for-enterprises/", "domain": "projectpq.ai", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://menteso.com/blog/how-much-the-prior-art-search-cost/", "domain": "menteso.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://cardinal-ip.com/patent-search/", "domain": "cardinal-ip.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://ensembleip.com/", "domain": "ensembleip.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://clarivate.com/intellectual-property/landon-ip-is-clarivate/", "domain": "clarivate.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://sagaciousresearch.com/prior-art-search", "domain": "sagaciousresearch.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://softwarefinder.com/legal/iprally", "domain": "softwarefinder.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://patentext.com/blog/solve-intelligence-vs-patlytics/", "domain": "patentext.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://g2.com/products/xlscout/pricing", "domain": "g2.com", "source_type": "review"}, {"url": "https://wicely.com/resources/patent-monitoring-platform-comparison", "domain": "wicely.com", "source_type": "other"}], "answer_text": "Short version: for most startups the right answer is a free database for your own first pass, then a few hundred dollars to a professional search firm before you spend real money on filing. The $30k/year AI platforms are almost never worth it pre-Series B.\n\n## 1. Do it yourself first (free)\n\n- **Google Patents** - the best starting point. Full-text across 100+ offices, machine translations, \"similar documents,\" and it indexes non-patent literature (papers, some books). Fastest way to find out whether your idea is obviously already patented. Weaker on classification-based searching and non-English filings than the official databases. ([PQAI](https://projectpq.ai/5-free-and-possibly-more-efficient-alternatives-to-google-patents/))\n- **Espacenet** (EPO) - ~150M documents, the most comprehensive free source, with CPC classification, citation and patent-family search plus machine translation from 30+ languages. This is where you catch the CN/JP/KR/DE art Google surfaces poorly. ([Espacenet](https://worldwide.espacenet.com/), [PatSeer](https://www.patseer.com/free-and-paid-patent-databases-2026-complete-guide/))\n- **USPTO Patent Public Search** - official US source; proper Boolean and fi", "answer_truncated": true, "measurement": "One answer from one engine on one date. Not a ranking and not a claim about the world; brands the engine did not name are not recorded.", "limitation": "Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.", "alerts": {"name": "Answer Watch Pro", "price_usd": 79, "period": "month", "gets": "daily change alerts for up to 5 brands in what one AI answer engine says, history, CSV export. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included", "url": "https://bikoosh.com/answers"}}