Patent77

MCP server

Give your agent a prior-art tool

Patent77 hosts a Model Context Protocol server over HTTP at https://www.patent77.com/api/mcp. Three tools, the same engine as the API, and an anonymous trial mode — an agent can run its first real search before anyone creates an account.

Setup

Add it to your client

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http patent77 https://www.patent77.com/api/mcp

Add a key later with --header "Authorization: Bearer p77_live_...".

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patent77": {
      "url": "https://www.patent77.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer p77_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

Any MCP client (generic HTTP entry)

{
  "type": "http",
  "url": "https://www.patent77.com/api/mcp",
  "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer p77_live_..." }
}

Anonymous vs. keyed: with no Authorization header the server runs in trial mode — 4 calls/min, 20/day per IP, search results truncated to the top 3 references, and reports unavailable. A paid-plan key (from settings after signup) applies your plan quota and full results.

Tools

The three tools

Served by tools/list from the same catalogue this page reads, so they can't drift.

search_prior_art

Run a prior-art search from a plain-English invention description - returns scored references (publication number, one-line overlap, elements hit) and a headline knockout risk.

example arguments

{ "description": "A bicycle helmet with a built-in crash-detection accelerometer that texts an emergency contact" }

get_patent

Look up one patent by publication number - title, abstract, assignee, publication date, claims and the canonical source URL.

example arguments

{ "pub_number": "US10123456B2" }

assess_patentability

Build the full patentability report - verdict, examiner-style narrative, element-by-reference matrix, limitations. Pass a prior search_id or a description for search + report in one call. Requires a paid key.

example arguments

{ "search_id": "SEARCH_ID" }

Input schemas are returned verbatim by the server’s tools/list; the REST equivalents live in the API reference. Note that search_prior_art runs a real engine pass and can take a couple of minutes — set your client’s tool timeout accordingly.

A sensible agent workflow

  1. search_prior_art with the invention description - get scored references and the knockout risk.

  2. get_patent on the top one or two references - read the actual claims before drawing conclusions.

  3. assess_patentability with the search_id when the human asks for the full read - paid key required; the report includes its own limitations section your agent should surface, not swallow.

More in the agent onboarding guide and the machine-readable /llms.txt.