diff --git a/patent.py b/patent.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94e0c62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patent.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import argparse
+import requests
+import json
+
+
+def patent(**kwargs):
+    patent_url = 'https://api.nasa.gov/patents/content'
+    get_params = {}
+    for key, value in kwargs.iteritems():
+        get_params[key] = value
+    get_response = requests.get(patent_url, params = kwargs)
+
+    if get_response.status_code == 429:
+        raise Exception('You have exceeded your rate limit')
+
+    body = get_response.json()
+
+    if 'error' in body:
+        raise Exception(body['error'])
+# Current default is to print out json, need to add ability for file output
+    pretty_print = json.dumps(body, indent=2)
+    return pretty_print
+
+
+def main():
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description = 'Search NASA patent portfolio')
+    ap.add_argument('-a', '--api_key',
+                    help = 'Your NASA API key', required=True)
+    ap.add_argument('-q', '--query', help = 'Text to search on', required=True)
+    ap.add_argument('-c', '--concept_tags',
+                    help = 'Return ordered dict of concepts from the abstract')
+    ap.add_argument('-l', '--limit', help = 'Number of patents to return',
+                   type=int)
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+
+#need to add option to output json file
+    print(patent(**vars(args)))
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()