USPTO (patents and trademarks)
Two cards read from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Both connect once for the whole company and both keys are free.
| Card | What it lights up |
|---|---|
| USPTO Open Data Portal | Patents · filings, statuses and deadlines (refreshed weekly) |
| USPTO trademark status (TSDR) | Legal · trademark statuses (refreshed weekly) |
The refreshes that use these keys are still being finished. You can connect and test the keys now.
Open Data Portal key #
- Create or sign in to your USPTO.gov account. The Open Data Portal also asks you to verify your identity once with ID.me and link it to the USPTO.gov account.
- Go to the Open Data Portal (data.uspto.gov), open MyODP → Manage API Key and request your key.
- Complete the profile fields the USPTO asks for (job title, organization name, organization type and intended use). Keys for incomplete profiles are switched off; if that happens, complete the profile and choose Activate API Key. The same key then works again.
Then in VX Terminal: open Settings → Connections, find USPTO Open Data Portal under IP & Legal, press Connect, paste the key into API key, press Test, then Save.
Test runs one patent-application search. A good result is "The USPTO Open Data Portal accepted the key."
TSDR (trademark status) key #
- Sign in with your USPTO.gov account and request a TSDR API key from the USPTO's API key manager.
- In VX Terminal, find USPTO trademark status (TSDR), press Connect, paste the key into API key, press Test, then Save.
Test looks up one trademark case status. A good result is "The USPTO trademark API accepted the key."
Common errors #
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| "The USPTO rejected the key." | Copy the key again. For the Open Data Portal, check your profile is complete and the key is active under Manage API Key. |
| "The USPTO is rate-limiting this key. Try again in a minute." | The Open Data Portal allows one request at a time per key. Wait, then test again. |
| "The USPTO answered HTTP …. The key may be fine; try again later." | The USPTO service had a problem. Try again later. |
| "API key is too short to be a key" / "API key contains spaces; paste only the key" | Paste the whole key, alone. |