Patent Filings

Overview

Patent Filings reveal which companies are actively investing in R&D—and what specific technology areas they're prioritizing.

We monitor USPTO assignment records and match patent assignees to company domains (international patent office coverage coming soon). When a company files multiple patents in a technology cluster within a rolling window, we emit a signal with patent count, technology categories extracted from patent abstracts, and links to source records. The technology classification comes from analyzing patent titles and abstracts against a taxonomy of ~50 tech areas.

Available Subtypes

Signal	Subtype Enum	Description
New core patent	`newCorePatent`	New patent in core product area
Productization	`productization`	Research to product shift

Response Fields

Patent filing signals follow the base signal schema with patent-specific fields in the data object.

Core Signal Fields

Field	Type	Example	Description
`signal_id`	string	`"acdd8c6815d3de2b"`	Unique signal identifier
`signal_type`	string	`"patent-filing"`	Signal type identifier
`signal_subtype`	string	`"newCorePatent"`	Signal subtype (see above)
`signal_name`	string	`"Walmart's 9 new patents signal major investment in AI..."`	Concise headline describing the patent activity
`detected_at`	string (ISO 8601)	`"2026-01-02T23:07:14.768479Z"`	When the signal was detected
`association`	string	`"company"`	Always `"company"` for patent signals

Company Object

Field	Type	Example	Description
`name`	string	`"Walmart Inc."`	Company name
`domain`	string	`"corporate.walmart.com"`	Primary website domain
`linkedin_url`	string \| null	`"linkedin.com/company/walmart"`	LinkedIn company page URL
`industries`	array[string]	`["Discount Stores"]`	Industry classifications

Data Object

Patent-specific fields in the data object:

Field	Type	Example	Description
`detail`	string	`"Walmart's recent patent filings reveal..."`	Detailed explanation of the patent activity and its significance
`relevance`	float	`0.9`	Score indicating how actionable this signal is for sales outreach (0.0–1.0, where 1.0 is highest). Higher values reflect greater commercial relevance based on factors like event magnitude, recency, and potential impact on buying decisions
`confidence`	string	`"high"`	How certain the system is that the signal classification is accurate. `high` = strong textual evidence supports the categorization, `medium` = probable but some ambiguity exists, `low` = inferred with limited direct evidence
`source_url`	string	`"https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/..."`	Link to USPTO patent search or assignment page
`tech_areas`	array[string]	`["AI/ML For Optimization", "Supply Chain Management"]`	Technology areas covered by the patents
`uspto_assignee`	string	`"Walmart Apollo, LLC"`	Patent assignee name as recorded in USPTO
`patent_count_recent`	integer	`9`	Number of recent patents filed
`newest_patent_date`	string (ISO 8601)	`"2025-12-30T00:00:00Z"`	Date of the most recent patent (ISO 8601 format)

Full JSON Response Example

{
  "signal_id": "b7c92d3e-4f8a-5b6c-9d0e-1f2a3b4c5d6e",
  "signal_type": "patent-filing",
  "signal_subtype": "newCorePatent",
  "signal_name": "Tesla's 12 new patents reveal major investment in battery thermal management and autonomous driving",
  "detected_at": "2026-01-18T15:42:33.891Z",
  "association": "company",
  "company": {
    "name": "Tesla, Inc.",
    "domain": "tesla.com",
    "linkedin_url": "linkedin.com/company/tesla-motors",
    "industries": [
      "Automotive",
      "Energy Storage"
    ]
  },
  "data": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "detail": "Tesla's recent patent filings demonstrate continued investment in two strategic areas: advanced battery thermal management systems for improved range and longevity, and neural network architectures for autonomous driving perception. The thermal patents suggest next-generation battery packs, while the autonomy patents indicate progress toward FSD capabilities.",
    "newest_patent_date": "2026-01-15T00:00:00Z",
    "patent_count_recent": 12,
    "relevance": 0.95,
    "source_url": "https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search/result?searchInput=Tesla,%20Inc.",
    "tech_areas": [
      "Battery Thermal Management",
      "Autonomous Driving",
      "Neural Networks",
      "Computer Vision",
      "Energy Storage"
    ],
    "uspto_assignee": "Tesla, Inc."
  }
}

API Usage

Generate Content API

{
  "enabledInsights": ["newCorePatent", "intentionalExpansion", "ipMoat"],
  "disabledInsights": []
}

Generate Insights API

{
  "insightSubtype": "intentionalExpansion"
}

Example Output

"Saw your recent patents on optical chip connections—impressive move into AI datacenter infrastructure. We're working on similar high-speed connectivity challenges and would love to share how we're approaching the problem. Worth a quick chat?"

Coverage

Refresh: Monthly
Coverage: 2,000,000 companies
Best for: Enterprise sales, technology companies, R&D-focused prospects