Zhihuiya Patent Forward Citation

This skill guides you on how to query patent forward citation data from the Zhihuiya patent database, helping users discover the patents and non-patent literature cited by specific patents during their application process.

Core Concepts

Forward citation refers to the patents and non-patent literature that a given patent has cited in its application documents. This is a fundamental aspect of patent analysis -- understanding what prior art a patent references helps assess its novelty, scope, and technological lineage.

• Patent citations (citedPatents): Other patents referenced by the queried patent.
• Non-patent literature citations (citedOthers): Academic papers, technical reports, and other non-patent documents referenced by the queried patent.

Parameter Guide

You must provide at least one of the following two parameters. If both are provided, patentId takes priority.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
patentId	string	Conditionally	Up to 100 comma-separated patent IDs.
patentNumber	string	Conditionally	Single publication/announcement number only. Do NOT pass comma-separated multiple numbers.

Rules:

1. At least one of patentId or patentNumber must be provided.
2. If both are present, patentId is used preferentially.
3. A request may contain up to 100 comma-separated patents. Confirm the intended batch before a multi-patent call.

Batch limit: patentId or patentNumber may contain up to 100 comma-separated values. Because the endpoint consumes significant credits, confirm the intended batch before submitting a multi-patent request.

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
total	integer	Total number of records returned
data	array	List of patent citation results
data[].patentId	string	Patent ID of the queried patent
data[].pn	string	Publication/announcement number
data[].citedPatents	array	List of cited patent documents
data[].citedOthers	array	List of cited non-patent literature
columns	array	Column definitions for rendering
costToken	integer	Tokens consumed by the query
type	string	Rendering style hint

Invocation

• API Endpoint: POST /zhihuiya/patentForwardCitation (full parameters/response/error codes in references/api.md)
• Python Script: python scripts/patent_references.py '<JSON params>' [--inline]
• Cost Constraints: This tool consumes credits. The same parameter combination defaults to a single call per session. The script includes a 24-hour local cache. Do not automatically retry after failure or empty results. Batch requests may contain up to 100 comma-separated patents; confirm the intended batch first.

Output Strategy (default script behavior):

• Always write the full response to <cwd>/nexscope/<YYYY-MM-DD>/<session>/data/nexscope-zhihuiya-patent-forward-citation-<timestamp>.json (<cwd> is the working directory at script execution time, which in Claude Code is the current project directory; <session> is taken from the SESSION_ID environment variable, auto-grouped by user task; writing to /tmp is forbidden -- error if the current directory is not writable)
• Response body <= 8 KB: print the full JSON to stdout after writing to disk
• Response body > 8 KB: print only a summary to stdout after writing to disk (top-level fields, common counts like total/costToken, length of the largest list field + first 3 samples)
• Add --inline to force full output to stdout (still writes to disk)

Data Reading Tip: Check the summary first to determine if it is sufficient; when specific fields are needed, prefer using jq or ConvertFrom-Json to extract from the saved JSON file on demand to avoid loading the entire JSON into context.

Authentication

Set the NEXSCOPE_API_KEY environment variable. If credentials are missing or expire, visit https://www.nexscope.ai/help/skills-external-access?co-from=skillNS to top up credits.

Usage Examples

1. Query forward citations by publication number

Look up the forward citations for patent US10000000B2.

Parameters: {"patentNumber": "US10000000B2"}

2. Query forward citations by patent ID

Retrieve the cited references for patent ID 12345678.

Parameters: {"patentId": "12345678"}

3. Query forward citations using both identifiers

Look up citations for patent ID 12345678 (publication number US10000000B2).

Parameters: {"patentId": "12345678", "patentNumber": "US10000000B2"} (patentId takes priority)

Display Rules

1. Present data clearly: Show citation results in well-structured tables, separating patent citations from non-patent literature citations.
2. Summarize counts: Always state the total number of cited patents and cited non-patent literature items.
3. No fabrication: Only display data returned by the API. Do not infer or fabricate citation details.
4. Error handling: When a query fails, explain the reason based on the error response and suggest the user verify their patent ID or publication number.
5. Per-patent results: Present each returned patent's citation data separately.
6. Empty results: If a patent has no citations, explicitly inform the user rather than showing an empty table.

User Expression & Scenario Quick Reference

Applicable -- Patent citation queries:

User Says	Scenario
"What patents does XX cite"	Forward citation lookup
"Show me the references for patent XX"	Citation detail retrieval
"What prior art is cited by XX"	Prior art reference query
"List the cited literature for XX"	Non-patent literature lookup
"Citation analysis for patent XX"	Combined patent + literature citation
"What documents does patent XX reference"	General citation query

Not applicable -- Needs beyond forward citation data:

• Backward/reverse citations (who cites this patent)
• Patent validity or legal status
• Patent family analysis
• Patent full-text search
• Patent classification or landscape analysis