STN
STN is a scientific and technical information retrieval platform operated by the American Chemical Society, providing researchers authenticated online access to patent databases and scientific literature across chemistry, biomedical research, and nanotechnology via its CAS IP Finder product.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- Headquarters—
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
STN firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- STN
- Legal name
- American Chemical Society
- Website
- https://stn.org
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- STN is a scientific and technical information retrieval platform operated by the American Chemical Society, providing researchers authenticated online access to patent databases and scientific literature across chemistry, biomedical research, and nanotechnology via its CAS IP Finder product.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
STN industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Scientific and Intellectual Property Research Database
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)
- akta.pro industry
- STM Publishing (Science, Technical & Medical)Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Educational & Academic Publishing (Textbooks, Scholarly, STM)Digital Archives, Libraries & Institutional Access PlatformsMedia, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Digital Publishing Platforms (E-books & Online Articles)
Keywords
STN business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels1 record
STN product offering
Product offeringCore offering
STN provides a web-based, authenticated research platform that aggregates comprehensive scientific, technical, and intellectual property databases — including chemistry, biomedical, and nanotechnology literature and patent records — for use by professional researchers and IP professionals. The flagship user-facing product is CAS IP Finder, powered by STN, which enables paid/subscribed sessions for prior-art searching, technical literature retrieval, and IP research workflows.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- STN Platform Authenticated online research platform providing comprehensive access to scientific, technical, and intellectual property databases (including chemistry, biomedical, and nanotechnology content) for enterprise and institutional research professionals. Users start paid sessions via the STN login portal.
- CAS IP Finder (powered by STN) User-facing scientific, technical, and IP research application powered by the STN platform, enabling professional researchers and IP professionals to conduct prior-art and literature searches across CAS-curated scientific and patent databases.
Companies that use STN
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
STN technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
STN competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Clarivate (Derwent, Web of Science): Clarivate operates leading IP and scientific research platforms including Derwent Innovation, Web of Science, and patent analytics — directly competing with STN in scientific literature search, patent intelligence, and IP research workflows.
- PatSnap: PatSnap provides AI-powered patent and scientific literature search/analytics across R&D workflows, competing with STN in IP intelligence and innovation research for enterprise customers.
- EBSCO Information Services: EBSCO provides research databases and discovery services for academic and enterprise customers, overlapping with STN's role as an authenticated access point for scientific, technical, and IP research.
- ProQuest / Ex Libris (Clarivate): ProQuest and Ex Libris deliver academic research databases and discovery platforms for institutional libraries — directly comparable to STN as gateways into scientific and technical research content.
- Questel (Orbit Intelligence): Questel's Orbit Intelligence offers patent search, analytics, and IP workflow tools that compete head-to-head with STN for IP and scientific research customers in pharmaceuticals, chemistry, and engineering.
- Elsevier (Reaxys, Scopus, Embase): Elsevier offers Reaxys for chemistry/patent research, Scopus for scientific literature, and Embase for biomedical data — overlapping directly with STN's chemistry, biomedical, and scientific literature retrieval use cases.
- LexisNexis (PatentSight / LexisNexis PatentAdvisor): LexisNexis provides patent analytics and IP research platforms serving legal and R&D teams, with significant overlap to STN's IP and scientific research capabilities.
Broad incumbents
- Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS / SciFinder): CAS, the sister product suite within the same parent (American Chemical Society), provides SciFinder-n for chemistry and patent research, making it the closest incumbent peer and effectively part of the same organizational ecosystem.
Emerging players
- Semantic Scholar (Allen AI): Semantic Scholar is an AI-driven, free scientific literature search engine that disrupts STN's paid research database model with conversational and AI-powered discovery across scholarly papers.
- Google Scholar: Google Scholar offers broad free access to scientific literature and patents, representing a free, widely adopted alternative for some of the basic research discovery use cases that STN serves.
Market position
Customer concentration
STN financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
STN leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
STN funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
STN M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about STN
What does STN do?
STN provides a web-based, authenticated research platform that aggregates comprehensive scientific, technical, and intellectual property databases — including chemistry, biomedical, and nanotechnology literature and patent records — for use by professional researchers and IP professionals. The flagship user-facing product is CAS IP Finder, powered by STN, which enables paid/subscribed sessions for prior-art searching, technical literature retrieval, and IP research workflows.
Is STN a public or private company?
STN is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was STN founded?
STN was founded in -1.
Who are STN's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Clarivate (Derwent, Web of Science), PatSnap, EBSCO Information Services, ProQuest / Ex Libris (Clarivate), Questel (Orbit Intelligence), Elsevier (Reaxys, Scopus, Embase) and LexisNexis (PatentSight / LexisNexis PatentAdvisor). Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS / SciFinder) is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Semantic Scholar (Allen AI) and Google Scholar.
Does STN have an API?
No public API is recorded for STN.
What industry is STN in?
STN's product category is Scientific and Intellectual Property Research Database. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJABAD, STM Publishing (Science, Technical & Medical), with a secondary code of MPAJAMAJ, Digital Archives, Libraries & Institutional Access Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5192.