Zhihuiya Patent Family Explorer

This skill guides you on how to query patent family information via the Zhihuiya (PatSnap) platform, helping users discover Simple Family, INPADOC Family, and PatSnap Family members for given patents.

Invocation

• API Endpoint: POST /zhihuiya/patentFamily (full parameters/response/error codes in references/api.md)
• Python Script: python scripts/patent_family_data.py '<JSON params>' [--inline]
• Cost Constraints: This tool consumes credits. The same parameter combination defaults to a single call per session. The script includes a 24-hour local cache. Do not automatically retry after failure or empty results. Batch requests may contain up to 100 comma-separated patents; confirm the intended batch first.

Output Strategy (default script behavior):

• Always write the full response to <cwd>/nexscope/<YYYY-MM-DD>/<session>/data/nexscope-zhihuiya-patent-family-<timestamp>.json (<cwd> is the working directory at script execution time, which in Claude Code is the current project directory; <session> is taken from the SESSION_ID environment variable, auto-grouped by user task; writing to /tmp is forbidden -- error if the current directory is not writable)
• Response body <= 8 KB: print the full JSON to stdout after writing to disk
• Response body > 8 KB: print only a summary to stdout after writing to disk (top-level fields, common counts like total/costToken, length of the largest list field + first 3 samples)
• Add --inline to force full output to stdout (still writes to disk)

Data Reading Tip: Check the summary first to determine if it is sufficient; when specific fields are needed, prefer using jq or ConvertFrom-Json to extract from the saved JSON file on demand to avoid loading the entire JSON into context.

Authentication

Set the NEXSCOPE_API_KEY environment variable. If credentials are missing or expire, visit https://www.nexscope.ai/help/skills-external-access?co-from=skillNS to top up credits.

Core Concepts

A patent family is a collection of patent documents that are related to each other by priority claims. Different family definitions capture different scopes of relatedness:

• Simple Family: Patents sharing exactly the same set of priority applications. These are typically direct equivalents filed in different countries.
• INPADOC Family: A broader grouping defined by the European Patent Office that links patents sharing at least one common priority, even indirectly.
• PatSnap Family: A proprietary family definition by PatSnap (Zhihuiya) that extends INPADOC logic with additional heuristics to capture continuations, divisionals, and other related filings.

Each patent in the response carries its own simpleFamilyId, inpadocFamilyId, and patsnapFamilyId, which serve as unique identifiers for the family group under each definition.

Parameter Guide

You must supply at least one of the two lookup parameters. If both are provided, patent ID takes precedence.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
patentId	string	Conditionally	Up to 100 comma-separated patent IDs.
patentNumber	string	Conditionally	Single publication/announcement number only. Do NOT pass comma-separated multiple numbers.

Rules:

1. At least one of patentId or patentNumber must be provided.
2. If both are provided, the API uses patentId and ignores patentNumber.
3. A request may contain up to 100 comma-separated patents. Confirm the intended batch before a multi-patent call.

Batch limit: patentId or patentNumber may contain up to 100 comma-separated values. Because the endpoint consumes significant credits, confirm the intended batch before submitting a multi-patent request.

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
total	integer	Number of patent records returned
data	array	List of patent family result objects
data[].patentId	string	The patent ID for this record
data[].pn	string	Publication / announcement number
data[].simpleFamilyId	integer	Unique identifier for the Simple Family group
data[].simpleFamily	array	List of Simple Family member patents
data[].inpadocFamilyId	integer	Unique identifier for the INPADOC Family group
data[].inpadocFamily	array	List of INPADOC Family member patents
data[].patsnapFamilyId	integer	Unique identifier for the PatSnap Family group
data[].patsnapFamily	array	List of PatSnap Family member patents
columns	array	Column definitions for rendering
costToken	integer	Tokens consumed by this request
type	string	Rendering style hint

Usage Examples

1. Look up family members by publication number

"Find the patent family for US10000001B2"

Call with:

{"patentNumber": "US10000001B2"}

2. Look up by patent ID

"Get the patent family for patent ID 5af83e12-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Call with:

{"patentId": "5af83e12-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"}

3. Compare family scopes

"I want to see how Simple Family vs. INPADOC Family differs for US20200012345A1"

Call with:

{"patentNumber": "US20200012345A1"}

Then compare simpleFamily and inpadocFamily arrays in the response.

Display Rules

1. Present data clearly: Show patent family results in well-structured tables. Group by family type (Simple, INPADOC, PatSnap) when the user asks for comparison.
2. Summarize counts: Always state how many family members were found under each family type so users can quickly gauge geographic spread.
3. Highlight jurisdictions: When listing family members, call out the countries/regions covered to help users understand the patent's geographic protection scope.
4. Error handling: When the API returns an error or empty results, explain the likely cause (invalid patent number format, patent not found in database, etc.) and suggest corrections.
5. Per-patent results: Present each returned patent's family data separately.
6. No subjective legal advice: Present factual family data only. Do not provide legal opinions on patent scope, validity, or infringement.

Important Limitations

• Lookup only: This tool retrieves family information for known patents. It cannot perform keyword-based patent searches or full-text queries.
• Batch size: At most 100 comma-separated patent IDs or publication numbers per request.
• Data source: Family data comes from the Zhihuiya (PatSnap) database and may have a slight delay relative to the very latest patent office publications.
• Family member detail: The family member arrays contain summary objects. For full bibliographic data on a specific family member, a separate lookup may be required.

User Expression & Scenario Quick Reference

Applicable -- Patent family and equivalents lookup:

User Says	Scenario
"Patent family for XX"	Direct family lookup
"What are the equivalents of this patent"	Simple family search
"Which countries is this patent filed in"	Geographic coverage via family
"INPADOC family members"	Broad family lookup
"Related patents / sibling patents"	Family exploration
"Compare simple vs extended family"	Multi-definition comparison

Not applicable -- Needs beyond patent family lookup:

• Full-text patent search by keywords or classification codes
• Patent valuation or litigation data
• Freedom-to-operate or infringement analysis
• Patent application filing or prosecution