What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for patent-search services (startups) on 2026-10-13

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-10-13

Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

The question asked, verbatim: best patent-search services for startups

Brands named, in the order the engine gave

1. Google mentioned
   Google Patents - Where I'd actually tell a startup to begin.
2. Google Patents mentioned
   Google Patents - Where I'd actually tell a startup to begin.
3. Espacenet mentioned
   Espacenet (EPO) - Use alongside Google Patents, not instead of.
4. WIPO PATENTSCOPE mentioned
   WIPO PATENTSCOPE - Specifically for PCT applications and its cross-lingual expansion, which auto-translates your query into other languages.
5. PATENTSCOPE mentioned
   WIPO PATENTSCOPE - Specifically for PCT applications and its cross-lingual expansion, which auto-translates your query into other languages.
6. IPRally recommended
   IPRally - My pick if you want one paid tool.
7. Patlytics mentioned
   Patlytics - Broader than search: drafting, invalidity, FTO, claim charting in one platform.
8. Solve Intelligence mentioned
   Solve Intelligence - Drafting-first copilot (closed a $40M Series B led by M12 and Thomson Reuters Ventures in Dec 2025, added claim charting).
9. Series B mentioned
   Solve Intelligence - Drafting-first copilot (closed a $40M Series B led by M12 and Thomson Reuters Ventures in Dec 2025, added claim charting).
10. PatSnap mentioned
    PatSnap - SaaS pricing, modern dashboards, 100+ jurisdictions, ~8,000 customers.
11. Questel Orbit mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
12. Questel Orbit Intelligence mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
13. Orbit mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
14. Orbit Intelligence mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
15. Clarivate mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
16. Clarivate Derwent mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
17. Clarivate Derwent Innovation mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
18. Derwent mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
19. Derwent Innovation mentioned
    Questel Orbit Intelligence and Clarivate Derwent Innovation - The professional-searcher standards.
20. UpCounsel mentioned
    - Best Patent Search Engines and Tools for Inventors - UpCounsel (https://upcounsel.com/patent-search-tools)
21. Klemchuk mentioned
    - Flat Fee Patent Search - Klemchuk (https://www.klemchuk.com/flat-fee-patent-search)

Sources the engine cited

The answer, as recorded

## Start here (free, and genuinely good) **1. Google Patents** - Where I'd actually tell a startup to begin. Full-text search across 100+ patent offices plus non-patent literature (papers, books), free, with CPC classification filters and a "similar documents" feature. For a first novelty gut-check on your own invention, this gets you 80% of the way. Its weakness is that it rewards knowing how to search - Boolean syntax, classification codes - so budget an afternoon on learning CPC. **2. Espacenet (EPO)** - Use alongside Google Patents, not instead of. Better family/legal-status data and better coverage of non-English and older European filings. The EPO's classification search is the best free way to find the CPC codes that make every other search better. **3. WIPO PATENTSCOPE** - Specifically for PCT applications and its cross-lingual expansion, which auto-translates your query into other languages. Catches Japanese, Korean, and Chinese prior art that English-only searching misses - a real blind spot for hardware and materials startups. ## AI-native tools (worth paying for pre-filing) **4. IPRally** - My pick if you want one paid tool. Graph-neural-network search over 120M+ patents: you describe the invention in plain prose and it retrieves conceptually similar art without Boolean logic. Has a free tier and startup-friendly SaaS pricing, which is rare in this category. Best fit for prior-art/novelty work specifically. **5. Patlytics** - Broader than search: drafting, invalidity, FTO, claim charting in one platform. Raised $40M in April 2026 and sells heavily to Am Law 100 firms, so it's priced and built for legal teams - overkill for a seed-stage company doing one novelty search, but the right answer if you're building a portfolio or facing an assertion letter. **6. Solve Intelligence** - Drafting-first copilot (closed a $40M Series B led by M12 and Thomson Reuters Ventures in Dec 2025, added claim charting). Relevant if your bottleneck is turning invention disclosures into filings cheaply, not finding art. ## Enterprise platforms (probably not yet) **7. PatSnap** - SaaS pricing, modern dashboards, 100+ jurisdictions, ~8,000 customers. The most startup-accessible of the big three; useful when you need competitive/landscape intelligence for a fundraise, not just prior art. **8. Questel Orbit Intelligence** and **Clarivate Derwent Innovation** - The professional-searcher standards. Neither publishes pricing, both are enterprise-only (Orbit has a setup fee), and neither offers a free trial. Skip unless you've got an in-house IP function. ## Human search services **9. A flat-fee patentability search + attorney opinion** - The thing most startups actually need before spending $15k+ on a filing. Published rates: roughly **$500-$1,500** for a US-only search, **$1,500-$3,000** for a search plus written attorney opinion, up to ~$2,000-$3,000 for crowded fields. Cheap "knockout" searches at $100-$500 are a reasonable first screen but aren't an opinion you can rely on. **What I'd actually do:** self-search on Google Patents + Espacenet first (free, and it makes you smarter about your own field), then pay for one flat-fee professional search with a written opinion before filing. The written opinion is the part that has real value - it's a decision document for your board and a cost-avoidance check on a filing that won't survive. Skip the enterprise platforms until someone on the team is doing IP full-time. One caveat worth naming: a search is evidence about novelty, not a guarantee - unpublished applications stay secret for 18 months, so no search can see art that's already been filed ahead of you. Sources: - [Compare the Top Patent Research Software for Startups](https://sourceforge.net/software/patent-research/for-startup/) - [Best Patent Search Engines and Tools for Inventors - UpCounsel](https://upcounsel.com/patent-search-tools) - [Top patent search tools every inventor should know - PatentPC](https://patentpc.com/blog/top-patent-search-tools-every-inventor-should-know) - [PatSnap vs. Orbit Intelligence - TrustRadius](https://www.trustradius.com/compare-products/questel-orbit-intelligence-vs-patsnap) - [Questel patent search / Orbit alternatives guide](https://dev.to/patentscanai/questel-patent-search-orbit-alternatives-guide-5go7) - [Best AI Patent Tools (2026) - Patlytics](https://www.patlytics.ai/blog/best-ai-patent-tools) - [Best AI Tools for Patent Drafting in 2026](https://resources.rework.com/tools/ai-tools/best-ai-tools-for-patent-drafting-2026) - [Top Patent Analysis Tools - Solve Intelligence](https://www.solveintelligence.com/blog-posts/top-patent-analysis-tools) - [Understanding Patent Search Cost - UpCounsel](https://www.upcounsel.com/patent-search-cost) - [Flat Fee Patent Search - Klemchuk](https://www.klemchuk.com/flat-fee-patent-search) - [Patentability search cost](https://www.casrai.org/guides/patentability-search-cost)

Near this answer

The same question, recorded on other dates: 2026-10-10, 2026-10-08, 2026-10-06, 2026-10-04, 2026-10-02, 2026-10-01, 2026-09-26, 2026-09-24, 2026-09-22, 2026-09-20, 2026-09-16.

patent-search services, asked for other audiences: small businesses (asked 2026-10-13).

Other categories with a recorded answer: accounting firms, business coaching services, business formation services, compliance consulting firms.

Markdown edition · JSON record · the question page, with every recording · Answer Watch · AEO Watch

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.