Introducing PatentBench: Setting the Standard for Patent AI
Every year, global R&D teams pour billions, if not trillions, into innovation. What separates a product launch from a lawsuit, or a first mover from a fast follower, often comes down to patents. They’re legal, technical, and deeply strategic. But navigating them isn’t easy.
The patent workflow—searching, analyzing, drafting, examining, litigating—is still high-friction and highly specialized. Becoming proficient takes years of legal and technical training, and even then, the work remains intensive. Tools exist, but most are built for experts, not for scale or speed.
Meanwhile, large language models have made rapid progress. They’re already writing code, summarizing scientific literature, and translating legal documents. But when it comes to patents, there’s still a fundamental question: can AI actually help?
Can they understand a claim set written in dense legal-technical language? Can they assist with critical, risk-heavy work like prior art search or claim drafting? Where do they succeed, and where do they still fall short?
PatentBench was built to find out.
PatentBench is a benchmark designed to evaluate how AI performs on actual patent tasks, starting with one of the hardest: novelty search. Drawing from expertly curated disclosures and gold-standard references, it brings structure and clarity to a domain that has lacked both for far too long.
Why PatentBench Exists
PatentBench is the first comprehensive benchmark built specifically for patent-focused AI. It evaluates models across two essential dimensions:
- Ten Core Patent Capabilities: measuring the fundamental skills every patent-aware large language model must have
- Patent Task Applications: measuring performance in real-world, end-to-end IP workflows
Think of it as a stress test for patent AI. It doesn’t just check whether a model can generate fluent text. It examines whether it can reason through legal nuance, interpret technical disclosures, and assist with the work patent professionals actually do.
With PatentBench, AI for patents moves from loose exploration to measurable progress. For the first time, performance can be tracked, compared, and improved with structure and purpose.
Ten Core Capabilities Every Patent AI Must Master
PatentBench defines what real capability looks like in patent AI. It tests ten foundational skills that reflect the demands of everyday patent practice:
- Patent Q&A
Can the model answer fact-based, definitional, and interpretive questions based on real patent content?
- Patent Interpretation
Can it analyze claims and descriptions to determine the scope and inventive concepts?
- Patent Translation
Can it translate patents accurately across languages while respecting technical and legal nuance?
- Information Extraction
Can it identify structured elements like problems, solutions and technical features, from dense patent text?
- Exam Knowledge
Can it solve bar-style exam questions that require deep legal and procedural understanding?
- Summarization
Can it generate abstracts and claim summaries that help users assess relevance at a glance?
- Classification
Can it assign accurate categories for better search and analytics?
- Drafting
Can it contribute to writing applications that are both compliant and strategically sound?
- Multi-Turn Dialogue
Can it hold a coherent, iterative conversation about an invention or application?
- Reasoning
Can it assess novelty, identify conflicts, and analyze infringement with logical precision?
These are not surface-level skills. Each capability reflects the kinds of thinking and analysis patent work demands.
From Core Skills to Real-World Tasks
If the core capabilities are the foundation, then the application benchmarks are the proving ground.
PatentBench puts AI to the test in full-scope IP workflows, such as:
- Novelty Search (Prior Art Search)
Break down disclosures, retrieve relevant references, and assess novelty with precision
- Freedom-to-Operate (FTO)
Identify potentially conflicting patents and build claim charts to map legal risk
- Patent Translation
Deliver professional-grade translations that meet patent office expectations
- Specification Drafting Assistant
Generate accurate, well-structured invention descriptions and check for compliance gaps
- Design Patent Infringement
Use image-based search and visual comparison to flag infringement risks
Each task reflects the real pressure and complexity of patent work, not just academic performance but professional utility.
What PatentBench Changes
PatentBench changes how we talk about, and build, AI for patents. It creates structure where there was none and raises the bar across the field.
- Guiding AI Development
AI builders gain a clear target: the tasks that matter most and the skills that drive real value.
- Helping Teams Choose Wisely
Patent professionals and enterprises finally have a way to compare tools, cut time spent evaluating, and adopt AI with confidence.
- Setting a New Industry Standard
PatentBench lays the groundwork for transparent, repeatable, and trusted benchmarks. It drives better tools, stronger performance, and healthier competition.
Looking Ahead
This is the beginning. As patent AI advances, PatentBench will evolve. More tasks will be added. More languages will be covered. Evaluation will go deeper and become more fine-grained.
Clear standards accelerate adoption. PatentBench gives the industry what it has been missing: a way to measure real capability, not just promise.
It helps professionals move faster, with more confidence, and more control over the work that protects innovation.
PatentBench: built to measure what matters, so AI for patents can actually deliver.
