Software Vulnerability Patent Tracker

⚠️ COMMUNITY TEMPLATE DISCLAIMER: This is a community-contributed template that uses ScrapeGraphAI (a community node). Please ensure you have the ScrapeGraphAI community node installed in your n8n instance before using this template.

This workflow automatically tracks newly-published patent filings that mention software-security vulnerabilities, buffer-overflow mitigation techniques, and related technology keywords. Every week it aggregates fresh patent data from USPTO and international patent databases, filters it by relevance, and delivers a concise JSON digest (and optional Intercom notification) to R&D teams and patent attorneys.

Pre-conditions/Requirements

Prerequisites

• n8n instance (self-hosted or n8n cloud, v1.7.0+)
• ScrapeGraphAI community node installed
• Basic understanding of patent search syntax (for customizing keyword sets)
• Optional: Intercom account for in-app alerts

Required Credentials

Additional Setup Requirements

Example keyword matrix (upload as keywords.csv or paste into the “Matrix” node):

topic,keywords
Buffer Overflow,"buffer overflow, stack smashing, stack buffer"
Memory Safety,"memory safety, safe memory allocation, pointer sanitization"
Code Injection,"SQL injection, command injection, injection prevention"

How it works

This workflow automatically tracks newly-published patent filings that mention software-security vulnerabilities, buffer-overflow mitigation techniques, and related technology keywords. Every week it aggregates fresh patent data from USPTO and international patent databases, filters it by relevance, and delivers a concise JSON digest (and optional Intercom notification) to R&D teams and patent attorneys.

Key Steps:

• Schedule Trigger: Fires weekly based on the configured cron expression.
• Matrix (Keyword Loader): Loads the CSV-based technology keyword matrix into memory.
• Code (Build Search Queries): Dynamically assembles patent-search URLs for each keyword group.
• ScrapeGraphAI (Fetch Results): Scrapes USPTO, EPO, and WIPO result pages and parses titles, abstracts, publication numbers, and dates.
• If (Relevance Filter): Removes patents older than 1 year or without vulnerability-related terms in the abstract.
• Set (Normalize JSON): Formats the remaining records into a uniform JSON schema.
• Intercom (Notify Team): Sends a summarized digest to your chosen Intercom workspace.
  (Skip or disable this node if you prefer to consume the raw JSON output instead.)
• Sticky Notes: Contain inline documentation and customization tips for future editors.

Set up steps

Setup Time: 10-15 minutes

1. Install Community Node
   Navigate to “Settings → Community Nodes”, search for ScrapeGraphAI, and click “Install”.
2. Create Credentials
   • Go to “Credentials” → “New Credential” → select ScrapeGraphAI API → paste your API key.
   • (Optional) Add an Intercom credential with a valid access token.
3. Import the Workflow
   • Click “Import” → “Workflow JSON” and paste the template JSON, or drag-and-drop the .json file.
4. Configure Schedule
   Open the Schedule Trigger node and adjust the cron expression if a different frequency is required.
5. Upload / Edit Keyword Matrix
   Open the Matrix node, paste your custom CSV, or modify existing topics & keywords.
6. Review Search Logic
   In the Code (Build Search Queries) node, review the base URLs and adjust patent databases as needed.
7. Define Notification Channel
   If using Intercom, select your Intercom credential in the Intercom node and choose the target channel.
8. Execute & Activate
   Click “Execute Workflow” for a trial run. Verify the output. If satisfied, switch the workflow to “Active”.

Node Descriptions

Core Workflow Nodes:

• Schedule Trigger – Initiates the workflow on a weekly cron schedule.
• Matrix – Holds the CSV keyword table and makes each row available as an item.
• Code (Build Search Queries) – Generates search URLs and attaches meta-data for later nodes.
• ScrapeGraphAI – Scrapes patent listings and extracts structured fields (title, abstract, pub. date, link).
• If (Relevance Filter) – Applies date and keyword relevance filters.
• Set (Normalize JSON) – Maps scraped fields into a clean JSON schema for downstream use.
• Intercom – Sends formatted patent summaries to an Intercom inbox or channel.
• Sticky Notes – Provide inline documentation and edit history markers.

Data Flow:

1. Schedule Trigger → Matrix → Code → ScrapeGraphAI → If → Set → Intercom

Customization Examples

Change Data Source to Google Patents

// In the Code node
const base = 'https://patents.google.com/?q=';
items.forEach(item => {
  item.json.searchUrl = `${base}${encodeURIComponent(item.json.keywords)}&oq=${encodeURIComponent(item.json.keywords)}`;
});
return items;

Send Digest via Slack Instead of Intercom

// Replace Intercom node with Slack node
{
  "text": `🚀 New Vulnerability-related Patents (${items.length})\n` +
          items.map(i => `• <${i.json.link}|${i.json.title}>`).join('\n')
}

Data Output Format

The workflow outputs structured JSON data:

{
  "topic": "Memory Safety",
  "keywords": "memory safety, safe memory allocation, pointer sanitization",
  "title": "Memory protection for compiled binary code",
  "publicationNumber": "US20240123456A1",
  "publicationDate": "2024-03-21",
  "abstract": "Techniques for enforcing memory safety in compiled software...",
  "link": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240123456A1/en",
  "source": "USPTO"
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Empty Result Set – Ensure that the keywords are specific but not overly narrow; test queries manually on USPTO.
2. ScrapeGraphAI Timeouts – Increase the timeout parameter in the ScrapeGraphAI node or reduce concurrent requests.

Performance Tips

• Limit the keyword matrix to <50 rows to keep weekly runs under 2 minutes.
• Schedule the workflow during off-peak hours to reduce load on patent-office servers.

Pro Tips:

• Combine this workflow with a vector database (e.g., Pinecone) to create a semantic patent knowledge base.
• Add a “Merge” node to correlate new patents with existing vulnerability CVE entries.
• Use a second ScrapeGraphAI node to crawl citation trees and identify emerging technology clusters.