Also detect possible patent issues or references

[pombredanne]

We can detect licenses with patent languages alright. A nice addition would be to detect references to patents (like with patent numbers) or even bits from patent texts themselves (using matching) or using various keywords.

[Adityatorgal17]

Hi @pombredanne,
I’d like to work on adding detection for patent references. I’ll explore integrating pattern detection similar to license rules.
Is there a preferred format, scope, or test expectations you’d like me to follow before I start?

[dikshaa2909]

Hi @pombredanne,

I have opened a PR #4763 addressing this issue by introducing a new patent scan plugin.

The implementation includes:

• A --patent CLI option to enable patent detection
• A --max-patent threshold option for limiting results per file
• Detection of patent numbers across multiple formats
• Detection of patent-related keywords such as “patent pending”, “patented”, and similar references
• Word-boundary enforcement to reduce false positives
• API integration via get_patents
• Structured output under patent_detections
• Dedicated CLI-level tests covering detection, international formats, threshold handling, and negative cases

The implementation follows the existing ScanCode plugin architecture and does not modify unrelated components.

I would appreciate your review and any feedback you may have.

Thank you.