Perplexity launches Perplexity Patents

The AI Agent disrupting Patent research

Perplexity launched a LegalTech product called Perplexity Patents to simplify patent research on October 30th. The main goal of Perplexity with this product is to make Intellectual Property (IP) intelligence accessible to everyone.

The Problem that Perplexity is trying to solve

There are multiple databases for patent search such as Google Patents, USPTO Patent Search and Lens. Traditionally, patent search has relied on the usage of extensive key words and phrases making it inaccessible for the general populace. These platforms require professional training and expertise. This coupled with their costs limited it to specialists. Perplexity Patents wants to democratize access to IP knowledge for the general populace.

How does Perplexity Patents work and why is it better?

Perplexity Patents is an AI research agent. The AI Agents breaks down the complex query into small and precise tasks. Then the agent goes to the specialized patent index where it searches for related documents and technical information. Then agent crafts responses and weaves the requisite documents into a single response. Instead of doing 10 searches manually, the same can be achieved with 1 search in Perplexity Patents.

The advantage is that you do not need to ask it specific questions. You can ask the agent vague and open-ended questions such as the “Key AI Agent patents in 2025” or even “ Blockchain patents in 2025”. The competitive advantage it possesses is that if you ask it a question relating to a specific product such as fitness watches, it will provide results for adjacent patents such as wearables and fitness bands.

This minimizes the number of searches that have to be conducted creating efficiency and saving time. Perplexity Patents draws not only from patent literature where innovations might be cited but also academic literature, public software repositories and other relevant sources making the search comprehensive and thorough.

Why is Patent Research hot right now?

• Patent Research helps founders, innovators and technologists identify whether they’re inventions are actually new and not present in the market already. If your invention already exists then thousands of dollars will be wasted on the patent application. If there’s something similar in the market, then your product can be modified.

• Patent Research helps prevent infringement with competitors and helps identify whitespaces for innovation by showing what rivals are doing, where they’re building and their future products in the pipeline.

Patent research is hot right now with the number of DeepTech startups that are using technologies such as AI, Blockchain and Quantum Computing. Owning proprietary technology has never been more important in the world of startups. Perplexity Patents is not only a LegalTech product but also a product for engineers, innovators and researchers and business leaders.

BigTech companies are starting to penetrate the LegalTech industry. OpenAI is already using a internally developed Contract Review tool. These companies already have a massive market share and could evolve into Full-Stack AI companies that provide tools for a wide range of areas such as Law, Accounting, Finance, Auditing and Client Relations.

LegalTech companies such as Harvey, Legora and Eudia will face stiff competition from these tech giants. These tech giants play on a different scale altogether. Perplexity Patents was given for free to 30 million users sending a signal that they’re here to stay and want to capture this market.

The LegalTech wars have begun and this time, BigTech wants in.