PatentRef

Overview

PatentRef is a Model Context Protocol server that connects your AI assistant to US patent data via a PatentsView-compatible API. Search patents granted from 1976 to the present, retrieve claim trees, and access patent briefs—all directly within your MCP-compatible workflow. When you use PatentRef, your AI gains real-time access to patent information and can invoke these tools intelligently during conversations or agent runs.

The server runs locally on your machine through the Python package patentref-mcp, installed via uvx. You'll need to provide a PATENTREF_API_KEY environment variable to authenticate with the API. The latest stable release is v0.4.0. For full documentation, visit https://patentref.io/docs/.

PatentRef is categorized as Development tooling on mcp.site and integrates seamlessly with MCP clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed, and others. If you maintain this project, claim your listing to verify ownership and keep information up to date.

Installation

// claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patentref": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "patentref-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PATENTREF_API_KEY": "<patentref-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Requires PATENTREF_API_KEY