PQAI

What PQAI does

PQAI (Project PQAI), founded in 2019 and legally organized as an open-source initiative rather than a conventional venture-backed company, builds AI-powered patent search infrastructure targeted at inventors, researchers, IP professionals, and LegalTech developers. Its core offering is a semantic prior-art search engine that uses dense neural retrieval — trained on USPTO examination data rather than user behavior — over a corpus of patents from 68+ global offices plus 100M+ non-patent literature (research paper) records. The product surface is a self-serve web application at search.projectpq.ai, a programmatic Python-accessible API with MCP server connectivity, and several specialized tools: CPC/IPC classification suggestion, USPTO Group Art Unit prediction with examiner allowance rates, concept extraction, and keyword suggestion. The company is led by Sam Zellner (an IAM Strategy 300 Honoree) and operates with 1–10 employees, supported organizationally by AT&T, GLIPA, and GreyB, with a core integration partnership with InspireIP that places PQAI inside an invention disclosure workflow serving 5,000+ innovators.

The platform follows a hybrid go-to-market combining product-led growth, community-led open-source development, and API-first distribution. Revenue is generated through a tiered subscription stack: a free web tier for individual users, PQAI+ Individual at $20/month (or $216/year), a $49/month chat-based search experience, a Developer API plan at $199/month for 600 queries, and an Enterprise API plan at $700/month for 3,000 queries with bulk data, on-premise/private server deployment, and integration support. Free academic API tokens are granted on email request, and private server deployment targets enterprises with strict data security requirements. Distribution channels are digital self-serve for SMBs/individuals and direct enterprise contact for on-premise and high-volume deployments, with content marketing (blog, comparison articles, guest posts), GitHub presence, and developer documentation as the primary demand-generation surfaces.

Pricing is publicly disclosed and the platform is GDPR-aligned with a privacy-first architecture that never logs user queries. While the company has not disclosed revenue, fundraising, or specific headcount, multiple recent product launches (Search Engine v4.0 and PDF export in April 2024; data coverage expansion to 68 countries and 100M+ papers in December 2024; UI/country filtering in April 2025) and an independent #2 ranking among AI patent search tools (June 2025) suggest an active and iterating business rather than a stalled open-source project.

Name

PQAI

Legal name

Project PQAI

Website

https://projectpq.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PQAI is an open-source AI patent search platform that uses dense neural retrieval to surface prior art across 68+ patent offices and 100M+ research papers, serving inventors, researchers, IP professionals, and LegalTech developers via a free web app and paid API tiers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Patent Search Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

IP & Patent Information Publishing (Patent/Litigation Analytics, Prior Art) (MPAJACAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

IP Management, Patents & Trademark Software (BPAEAPAN)

Keywords

• Patent search software
• Prior art search
• Semantic patent retrieval
• Intellectual property analytics
• CPC classification lookup

Headquarters

HQ city

Scott Air Force Base

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Free Tier: Free basic access to patent search with up to 20 results per query. Anonymous users can discover, explore, and analyze prior art data. This tier serves as the primary acquisition channel for converting users to paid plans.
2. PQAI+ Individual Plan: Premium subscription for individual users at $20/month (billed monthly) or $216/year. Includes up to 50 API requests/month, faster search speed, and limited API access for personal use.
3. PQAI+ Chat-Based Search: Chat-based patent search experience subscription at $49/month for users preferring conversational interface over traditional search.
4. Developer API Plan: API access at $199/month including 600 API queries per month. Targeted at developers, startups, and organizations needing programmatic access for experimentation or early-stage integration.
5. Enterprise API Plan: Commercial API subscription at $700/month including 3,000 API queries per month with priority support, bulk data access, custom API workflows, and integration support. Required for commercial use and platform integrations.
6. Institutional Subscriptions: Enterprise and institutional subscriptions for organizations requiring advanced analytics, batch processing, API access, and tailored solutions for larger teams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

PQAI provides an open-source AI-powered semantic patent search platform that enables natural-language prior-art discovery across patents from 68+ offices and 100M+ research papers. Its offering includes a free web search interface, a Python SDK Patent Search API for embedding into LegalTech and IP software products, and an on-premise Private Server deployment for enterprises requiring data confidentiality. Companion tools (CPC lookup, concept extraction, keyword suggester, GAU predictor) are integrated to support inventors, researchers, and IP professionals through the patentability assessment workflow.

Product overview

PQAI (Patent Quality through Artificial Intelligence) is an open-source initiative offering an AI-powered patent search ecosystem comprising a core web-based Patent Search Platform, a programmatic Patent Search API, and multiple specialized tools. The core platform uses semantic AI to surface prior art from patents (68+ offices) and non-patent literature (100M+ research papers) via natural-language queries. The product family includes PQAI+ (paid individual tier) and Private Server (enterprise on-premise deployment) as the two main paid offerings, with the free tier covering basic web search. Built around the core semantic search engine, the suite includes CPC Lookup, Keyword Suggester, Concept Extractor, and GAU Predictor as companion tools, all supported by an open-source codebase on GitHub.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PQAI Patent Search Platform Core AI-powered semantic prior-art search web application that enables users to discover, explore, and analyze patent data and scholarly literature using natural-language queries. Covers patents from 68+ offices and 100M+ research papers with semantic matching that goes beyond keyword search. Includes free tier (up to 20 results per query) and PQAI+ paid upgrades.
• PQAI Patent Search API Programmatic REST API providing semantic prior-art search, CPC classification prediction, concept extraction, patent data retrieval, patent drawing retrieval, and patent family information. Supports Python SDK, returns structured JSON responses, and includes MCP server access for integration with Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini. Available via Developer ($199/month for 600 queries), Enterprise ($700/month for 3,000 queries), or PQAI+ Individual ($20/month).
• PQAI Private Server On-premise deployment of PQAI's AI-powered patent search engine for enterprises that require all queries and results to remain within their own infrastructure. Designed for organizations with strict data security, confidentiality, or compliance requirements, including corporate IP departments, law firms handling pre-filing invention research, and government patent offices.

Quantifiable outcome

• Patent search results delivered in minutes rather than hours of manual keyword refinement
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability6 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• InspireIPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInspireIP has built an integration with PQAI for their invention disclosure platform. While PQAI powers prior-art search, InspireIP handles the capture, structuring, and filing of invention disclosures. The partnership creates a complete workflow from idea capture to patent filing, with InspireIP reporting 5,000+ innovators using their combined solution.
• AT&TminorOthersAT&T is listed as an initiative supporter of PQAI, indicating financial or strategic support for the open-source patent search project.
• GLIPA (Global IP Association)minorOthersGLIPA is listed as an initiative supporter of PQAI, indicating organizational support for the open-source patent search initiative.
• GreyBminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreyB is listed as an initiative supporter of PQAI, contributing to the collaborative effort to improve patent quality through AI.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• IPRally: AI-first patent search and analytics platform based in Finland. Directly comparable to PQAI in using neural/AI techniques for semantic prior-art search and patent classification, targeting patent professionals and LegalTech integrators.
• Solve Intelligence: AI-native patent drafting and prosecution assistant. Compares to PQAI as a fellow AI-first LegalTech company building workflow-embedded AI tooling for the patent lifecycle, with overlapping buyer personas at IP law firms and inventors.
• Ambercite: AI-driven patent citation analysis and semantic search tool. Closely overlaps PQAI's semantic prior-art retrieval and patent analytics value proposition for IP professionals and inventors.
• XLSCOUT: AI-powered patent analytics and drafting platform. Closely aligned with PQAI in applying AI to prior-art search, patentability assessment, and invention evaluation for inventors, law firms, and R&D teams.

Broad incumbents

• PatSnap: Global commercial IP analytics platform with patent search, landscape analysis, and competitive intelligence. A well-funded incumbent offering overlapping prior-art and patent search capabilities but with a much broader product suite and enterprise sales motion.
• The Lens (Lens.org): Open, large-scale patent and scholarly literature database covering 140M+ patents. Directly cited as a data source and comparison point for PQAI; shares the open-data philosophy but offers broader, non-AI-native search across the same patent corpus PQAI indexes.
• Orbit Intelligence (Questel): Commercial IP analytics and patent search suite from Questel. Overlaps PQAI on patent search, classification, and competitive intelligence, but as part of a much larger IP service platform with global enterprise customers.
• LexisNexis PatentSight: Enterprise-grade patent analytics and quality benchmarking tool under LexisNexis. Comparable to PQAI on patent quality analytics and prior-art insights, but positioned and priced for large corporate IP departments rather than open-access users.
• Google Patents: The dominant free global patent search engine from Google. Provides comparable patent search functionality at massive scale, often cited in PQAI customer testimonials as a baseline competitor PQAI exceeds on semantic accuracy.

Others

• Semantic Scholar: AI-driven semantic search engine for scientific/academic papers. Not a patent competitor, but uses comparable dense-retrieval and embedding technology for non-patent literature, making it an adjacent reference point for PQAI's NPL search capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/projectpqai
• GitHubgithub.com/pqaidevteam
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCMRjPBW76OQ2kfn-Z_6gHOA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pqai

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PQAI