# Espacenet API: Get patent family > Finds a patent family on Espacenet by publication number or invention title and returns its publications, applicants, priority date and reported legal events. Legal-event coverage varies by country; a grant alone does not establish that a patent is currently in force. Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Espacenet. - Page: https://fous.com/methods/espacenet.com/get-patent-family - Method: `espacenet.com/get_patent_family`, version 1 - Website: espacenet.com - Returns: title, applicants, priority date, overall status, family publications with legal status, latest legal events, Espacenet link - Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing) - Sign-in: none needed - Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1ยข with pay as you go); failed runs are free - Verified: Nov 2, 2026 ## Inputs | Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description | |---|---|---|---|---| | `patent` | string | yes | `"Coherent LADAR using intra-pixel quadrature detection"` | Publication number or invention title, for example US10000000B2 or Coherent LADAR using intra-pixel quadrature detection. | ## Output From a run on Oct 31, 2026, shortened. Its input: ```json { "patent": "Coherent LADAR using intra-pixel quadrature detection" } ``` Its output: ```json { "title": "Coherent LADAR using intra-pixel quadrature detection", "family": [ { "kind": "application", "country": "European Patent Office", "legal_status": "Granted; current status not confirmed", "espacenet_link": "https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/055456961/publication/EP3268771A1", "publication_date": "2018-01-17", "publication_number": "EP3268771A1" }, { "kind": "granted", "country": "European Patent Office", "legal_status": "Granted; current status not confirmed", "espacenet_link": "https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/055456961/publication/EP3268771B1", "publication_date": "2022-06-29", "publication_number": "EP3268771B1" }, { "kind": "application", "country": "International (WIPO)", "legal_status": "International application; national status varies", "espacenet_link": "https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/055456961/publication/WO2016144528A1", "publication_date": "2016-09-15", "publication_number": "WO2016144528A1" } ], "applicants": [ "RAYTHEON CO [US]" ], "priority_date": "2015-03-10", "espacenet_link": "https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/055456961/publication/US10000000B2", "overall_status": "Granted publications in 4 jurisdictions; applications without a recorded grant in 0; recorded lapses in 0. Current protection requires country-level confirmation.", "latest_legal_events": [ { "date": "2026-04-20", "event": "Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]", "country": "France" }, { "date": "2026-04-13", "event": "Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]", "country": "Germany" }, { "date": "2026-04-09", "event": "Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]", "country": "United Kingdom" } ] } ``` ## Run it From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output: ```bash curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"espacenet.com/get_patent_family","input":{"patent":"Coherent LADAR using intra-pixel quadrature detection"}}' ``` From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`. ## Ask your agent - Look up the patent family for EP3456789A1 on Espacenet and list every publication along with its legal status. - Who are the applicants and what's the priority date for WO2019123456A1? I also need the other family members. - Find the patent family for the invention titled "Lithium-sulfur battery cathode with graphene interlayer" and show the latest legal events reported. - I'm doing freedom-to-operate research on US9876543B2. Pull up its family members across countries and any recent legal events, like lapses or renewals. - Use espacenet.com to check the overall status of the family that includes JP2018512345A, and give me the link to the family page. ## Input schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "patent" ], "properties": { "patent": { "type": "string", "examples": [ "US10000000B2" ], "minLength": 1, "description": "Publication number or invention title, for example US10000000B2 or Coherent LADAR using intra-pixel quadrature detection." } } } ``` ## Output schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "title", "applicants", "priority_date", "overall_status", "family", "latest_legal_events", "espacenet_link" ], "properties": { "title": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "family": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "country", "publication_number", "kind", "publication_date", "legal_status", "espacenet_link" ], "properties": { "kind": { "type": "string" }, "country": { "type": "string" }, "legal_status": { "type": "string" }, "espacenet_link": { "type": "string" }, "publication_date": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "publication_number": { "type": "string" } } } }, "applicants": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "priority_date": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "espacenet_link": { "type": "string" }, "overall_status": { "type": "string" }, "latest_legal_events": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "date", "country", "event" ], "properties": { "date": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "event": { "type": "string" }, "country": { "type": "string" } } } } } } ``` ## See more - [Google API: Get patent details](https://fous.com/methods/patents.google.com/get-patent.md): Gets one public patent or published application by number, title, or Google Patents link, with claims, citations, family and classifications. - [Google API: Search patents](https://fous.com/methods/patents.google.com/search-patents.md): Finds Google Patents about an invention. Optional filters: inventor, assignee, country, filing date and publication stage. Legal status is the site's estimate. - [Google API: Summarize a company's patents](https://fous.com/methods/patents.google.com/list-company-patents.md): Summarizes a company's public patents on Google Patents within filing dates (optionally narrowed by topic words): total found, filings per year, top technology areas and inventors across the 50 most recent records, and the most recent patents. - [NIH API: Get PubMed article](https://fous.com/methods/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/get-article.md): Gets the full PubMed abstract and publication details for one article by title, PubMed link, or PubMed number (PMID). A title is searched in PubMed titles first and must closely match a found article. Some articles have no abstract or free full text. - [Semantic Scholar API: Get paper details](https://fous.com/methods/semanticscholar.org/get-paper.md): Finds a paper on Semantic Scholar by title, DOI or Semantic Scholar link and returns its abstract, one-sentence summary, authors, publication details, citation counts and a free PDF link when there is one. - [USPTO API: Get trademark status](https://fous.com/methods/uspto.gov/get-trademark-status.md): Gets the current status and prosecution history of one U.S. trademark by name, serial number or registration number. For a name, it picks the newest live matching mark (or the one matching the owner) and lists the other matches. - [ClinicalTrials.gov API: Get clinical trial by NCT number or title](https://fous.com/methods/clinicaltrials.gov/get-trial.md): Returns the full public record of a ClinicalTrials.gov study, looked up by NCT number or by title (closest registered title for ambiguous titles). - [USPTO API: Search US trademarks](https://fous.com/methods/uspto.gov/search-trademarks.md): Finds US trademark filings matching a brand name, optionally limited to likely goods or service classes. Exact marks come first, similar marks follow; not a legal clearance opinion.