Weekly competitor patent radar posted to Slack

Build me a competitor patent radar that runs every Monday at 8:00am on a cron trigger.

Inputs I should be able to configure: (1) a list of competitor company names to use as patent assignees, (2) the Slack channel to post the digest to, and (3) the lookback window (default 7 days).

On each run, use USPTO PatentsView to find new filings from those competitors in the lookback window:

1. Call Search Granted Patents filtered to those assignees with patent_date in the last 7 days. Pull patent_id, patent_title, patent_abstract, patent_date, assignees, and inventors.

2. Call Search Pre-Grant Publications filtered to those assignees with filing_date in the last 7 days. Pull document_number, publication title, abstract, filing_date, assignees, and inventors.

3. For each granted patent, call Get Granted Patent Brief Summary (and Get Granted Patent Claims if the brief summary is empty) and write a 2-3 sentence plain-English summary of what the invention actually does.

Reminder on PatentsView usage: every request needs the q parameter, sort fields must be listed in f, withdrawn patents are excluded by default, and the active host is search.patentsview.org/api/v1.

Then post a single digest message to the configured Slack channel using Send a Message. Group entries by competitor (one section per assignee). For each filing show:

- The patent title as a link to the USPTO record (https://patents.google.com/patent/US{patent_id} for grants, https://patents.google.com/patent/US{document_number}A1 for pre-grant pubs)

- Assignee name

- Inventor names

- Filing date or grant date, and whether it is a granted patent or pre-grant publication

- The 2-3 sentence plain-English summary

Use Slack mrkdwn formatting (*bold* for competitor headers, <url|text> for links). Cap each summary at 3 sentences so the digest stays scannable.

If no new filings dropped that week, still post a short message to the channel like "No new patent filings from your watch list this week." so the channel knows the radar is alive.

What does this prompt do?

Every Monday at 8am, scans the US patent system for last week's new filings from the competitors on your watch list.
Pulls both newly granted patents and freshly published applications so you catch competitors early, not 18 months after the fact.
Writes a 2-3 sentence plain-English summary of each filing so non-lawyers can tell at a glance what it is actually about.
Posts one tidy digest to your chosen Slack channel, grouped by competitor, with title, inventors, dates, and a link to the USPTO record.

What do I need to use this?

A USPTO PatentsView API key (free, the USPTO emails you one after you sign up at data.uspto.gov).
A Slack workspace and permission to post in the channel you want the digest to land in.
A short list of competitor company names to watch (the names they file patents under).

How can I customize it?

Change the schedule (e.g. Friday afternoon instead of Monday morning) or the lookback window (30 days for a slower beat).
Swap the channel, or send to a private channel for a smaller competitive intel circle.
Add or remove competitors from the watch list, or split into multiple radars by industry segment.

FAQs

Does this cover patent applications, or only granted patents?

Both. It pulls newly granted patents and freshly published applications (pre-grant publications), so you see what competitors are working on years before grants issue, not only what they already own.

What if my competitors had a quiet week with no filings?

You still get a short Slack message confirming the radar ran and found nothing new. That way silence does not look like a broken automation, and you know the watch is alive.

How accurate is the plain-English summary?

Summaries are generated from the patent's own brief summary or claim text, condensed to 2-3 sentences. They are great for triage, not for a freedom-to-operate analysis. Treat them as a starting point and click through to the USPTO record for anything that matters.

Does this cover patents filed outside the United States?

No. PatentsView only covers the US patent system. For non-US filings you would need an additional source (WIPO, EPO Espacenet, etc.).

Can I send the digest somewhere besides Slack?

Yes. Tell Geni you want the digest emailed, posted to Microsoft Teams, written to a Notion page, or logged to a Google Sheet instead, and it will swap the destination.

Related templates

Call overdue Xero customers with an AI collections agent

Every weekday at 10am, an AI voice agent phones your most overdue Xero accounts, logs what each customer promised, and reports back to finance in Slack.

+2

Agentic Task

Win back LiveChat visitors whose chats went unanswered

Every couple of hours we find the chats your team never answered, email those visitors a real reply, and hand the sensitive ones to a support lead.

Agentic Task

Chat quality review board for LiveChat support leads

Score last week's finished live chats against one rubric, let an AI grader draft the notes with quotes, and send coaching straight to the agent.

App

Win back no-show and cancelled appointments every morning

Every weekday morning, every appointment that fell through yesterday gets a personal text or email inviting them to rebook, plus a task for the right rep.

Agentic Task

Live Loop returns analytics with product-level drill-down

Pick any date range up to 120 days and see return volume, refund versus exchange mix, and the products behind every number, recalculated each time you open it.