MARQ Clearance Search API — documentation

Run MARQ clearance searches from your own software. Same searches, same prices and the same meter as the attorney portal.

Authentication

Create a key in the attorney portal under API keys. It is shown once — we store only a hash, so we cannot recover it for you. Send it on every request:

X-API-Key: marq_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An Authorization: Bearer marq_live_… header works too. A revoked key stops working immediately.

Run a search

POST /api/v1/searches
Content-Type: application/json
X-API-Key: marq_live_…

{
  "kind": "comprehensive",        // or "federal"
  "mark": "TWISTED PALMS",
  "classes": [25, 35],            // optional, improves conflict scoping
  "goods": "coffee; cafe services" // optional, sharpens the conflict analysis
}

A comprehensive search sweeps 51 state registries plus TTAB and marketplace sources and takes several minutes. Set your client timeout accordingly. A federal search returns in seconds.

200 OK
{
  "ok": true,
  "id": "6a95…",
  "mark": "TWISTED PALMS",
  "kind": "comprehensive",
  "verdict": { "level": "caution", "plain": "…" },
  "coverage": { "checked": […], "notChecked": […], "complete": true },
  "sources": [ { "id": "federal", "label": "Federal register (USPTO)", "checked": true } ],
  "evidence": { … },
  "billing": {
    "amountCents": 2900, "baseCents": 2900,
    "discountPct": 0, "tier": "Up to 500 searches/month",
    "searchesThisMonth": 1
  }
}

Every response carries what it cost and which tier priced it, so your own billing can reconcile without a second call.

Other endpoints

Endpoint	What it does
`GET /api/v1/searches/:id`	Retrieve one of your own past searches in full.
`GET /api/v1/usage`	This month's usage, totals and current volume tier. Add `?month=YYYY-MM` for another month.
`GET /api/v1/rates`	The current rate card. No key required.

Pricing

Volume (per calendar month)	Federal knockout search	Comprehensive clearance search
Up to 500 searches/month	$10	$29
500–2,000 searches/month	$8.50	$24.65
Over 2,000 searches/month	$7.50	$21.75

Volume tiers apply to the calendar month's search count on the account. A search is priced at the tier the account is in when it runs; searches already billed are not re-priced.

Errors

Status	Meaning
`401 invalid_api_key`	Missing, wrong or revoked key.
`402 insufficient_credit`	Prepaid balance will not cover the search. The response carries the balance and the price.
`402 usage_limit_reached`	The account's monthly usage limit is reached.
`400 unknown_search_kind`	`kind` must be `federal` or `comprehensive`.
`502 search_failed`	The search could not complete. You are not charged — the debit is reversed.

What the API does not do

It returns evidence and our conflict analysis. It does not issue a legal opinion, and nothing you receive from it is legal advice to you or to your client — the judgment is yours. Coverage is reported honestly on every response: if a source did not answer, coverage.notChecked says so, and a search that could not reach a source is never reported as a clean sweep.