@ipable/mcp

IPable MCP Server

Connect your AI assistant to a patent knowledge graph with 11M+ patents.

Ask patent questions directly inside Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, or any AI tool that supports MCP.

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What Can You Do With This?

Once set up, you can ask your AI things like:

• "Who are the top patent holders in AI?"
• "Give me Samsung's patent portfolio overview"
• "What's the FTO risk for semiconductors?"
• "Find patents similar to US-12448682-B2"
• "Which companies bridge biotech and AI research?"

The AI will query the IPable patent database and return real data.

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Prerequisites

You need Node.js installed on your computer.

• Check if you have it: Open a terminal and type node --version. If you see a version number (like v20.x.x), you're good.
• If not installed: Download it from nodejs.org — pick the LTS version, install it, done.

That's the only prerequisite. The MCP server downloads automatically the first time you use it.

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Setup (2 steps)

Step 1: Get Your API Key

1. Go to app.ipable.ai
2. Create an account (or sign in with Google)
3. Click your avatar → opens your Profile page
4. Scroll to API Keys → click "+ Create API Key"
5. Type a name like "Claude" and press Enter
6. Copy the key now — it starts with ipable_ and won't be shown again

Step 2: Add to Your AI Tool

Pick your tool below. Replace YOUR_KEY with the key you copied in Step 1.

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Claude Desktop (Mac/Windows app)

1. Open this file:

   • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Paste this (replace YOUR_KEY):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ipable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ipable/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "IPABLE_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

1. Quit Claude Desktop completely (Cmd+Q on Mac) and reopen it

2. Look for the hammer icon at the bottom of the chat — click it to see IPable tools

3. Try: "Use IPable to show me the patent database stats"

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Claude Code (Terminal / VS Code)

1. Open ~/.claude/settings.json (create it if it doesn't exist)

2. Paste this (replace YOUR_KEY):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ipable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ipable/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "IPABLE_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

1. Restart Claude Code

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Cursor

1. Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project folder

2. Paste this (replace YOUR_KEY):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ipable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ipable/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "IPABLE_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

1. Restart Cursor

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Windsurf

1. Open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

2. Paste the same config as above (replace YOUR_KEY)

3. Restart Windsurf

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Available Tools

When you ask about...	Tool used	What you get
Top companies in a tech area	ipable_market_concentration	Ranked list with patent counts and market share
A company's patent portfolio	ipable_company_overview	Total patents, families, R&D intensity
What tech a company focuses on	ipable_company_tech_portfolio	IPC class breakdown
Similar patents	ipable_find_similar_patents	Patents sharing the most citations
How crowded a patent space is	ipable_fto_risk	Risk level + blocking patents
R&D-heavy companies	ipable_research_intensity	Companies ranked by citations per patent
Companies bridging two fields	ipable_cross_domain	Cross-domain convergence
Database size	ipable_graph_stats	Total patents, articles, inventors
Patent distribution	ipable_ipc_distribution	Patents per IPC class
Anything else	ipable_chat	Free-form AI query

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Example Conversations

You: "Who dominates the wireless patent space?" → AI returns Samsung, Huawei, Qualcomm with patent counts and market share

You: "Give me Apple's patent portfolio" → AI returns 6,961 patents, 24 tech areas, research intensity 0.8

You: "Is it risky to file patents in AI?" → AI returns LOW risk, 30K+ assignees, 2.7 patents per company

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Your Queries Sync to IPable

Every MCP query automatically appears in your IPable web app at app.ipable.ai under "External Queries". You can view, move, duplicate, or share results from there.

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Troubleshooting

Tools not showing up:

• Make sure Node.js is installed (node --version in terminal)
• Quit and fully relaunch your AI tool (Cmd+Q, not just close)
• Check your JSON config for syntax errors at jsonlint.com
• First launch takes 10-20 seconds as npm downloads the package

Invalid API key:

• Create a new key at app.ipable.ai → Profile → API Keys
• Make sure no extra spaces around the key

No results:

• Try rephrasing the question
• Use company names as they appear in patents (e.g., "SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD")

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How It Works

You ask a question in your AI tool
  ↓
AI calls the IPable MCP server (runs locally on your machine)
  ↓
MCP server sends the request to the IPable API (over internet)
  ↓
API queries a Neo4j graph with 11M+ patents
  ↓
Results come back to your AI

Nothing is stored on your machine. Your queries sync to your IPable web account.

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Links

• Website: ipable.ai
• App: app.ipable.ai
• GitHub: github.com/PatentMuse/ipable-ukp

MIT License — IPable