Clearance

/clearance

This is a triage, not a clearance opinion. A trademark clearance opinion requires a full professional search and registered trademark counsel's judgment. A "no obvious conflicts" result means the triage didn't find anything — it does not mean the mark is clear. Clients have been sued over marks that passed a knockout search.

Instructions

1. Read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md. If it contains [PLACEHOLDER], stop and direct to /ip-legal:cold-start-interview.
2. Follow the workflow below.
3. Run intake (mark, goods/services, classes, jurisdictions, visual/stylization).
4. Knockout check for intrinsic bars — generic, descriptive, deceptive, geographic, surname, false connection, prohibited matter, functional.
5. Similar-marks search against what's connected (Solve Intelligence, CourtListener, Descrybe, or whatever MCP is available). If nothing is connected, say so in the output and proceed with the factor analysis only.
6. Walk the applicable circuit's likelihood-of-confusion factors — du Pont / Polaroid / Sleekcraft / other. Flag each; never conclude.
7. Write the triage memo to the matter folder (if a matter is active) or the practice outputs folder. Apply the work-product header per role.
8. End with recommended next steps and the non-lawyer gate if the role is non-lawyer.

This skill never concludes a mark is clear. If uncertain, flag — the attorney decides.

Examples

/ip-legal:clearance "APEXLEAF for an outdoor apparel line, planned launch US + EU"

/ip-legal:clearance

(And the skill will ask for the mark, goods, classes, and jurisdictions.)

THIS IS A FIRST PASS, NOT A CLEARANCE OPINION

Say this at the top of every output. Do not drop it. Do not soften it.

This is a first pass, not a clearance opinion. A trademark clearance opinion requires a full professional search (TESS, state registries, common law sources, international registries, domain and social, trade dress and design marks where relevant) and attorney judgment on likelihood of confusion, which depends on factors a structured triage cannot fully assess. A "no obvious conflicts" result from this skill means the triage didn't find anything — it does not mean the mark is clear. Clients have been sued over marks that passed a knockout search. A registered trademark attorney evaluates before anyone adopts, files, or invests in this mark.

This is the loudest guardrail in the plugin. Under-calling a conflict is a one-way door — a logo on trucks, a product launched, a TM application filed, all with a problem underneath. Over-calling is a two-way door — the attorney narrows the list in review. Stay on the two-way door side.

Matter context

Matter context. Check ## Matter workspaces in the practice-level CLAUDE.md. If Enabled is ✗ (the default for in-house users), skip the rest of this paragraph — skills use practice-level context and the matter machinery is invisible. If enabled and there is no active matter, ask: "Which matter is this for? Run /ip-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level." Load the active matter's matter.md for matter-specific context and overrides. Write outputs to the matter folder at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/matters/<matter-slug>/. Never read another matter's files unless Cross-matter context is on.

Load the practice profile first

Before running clearance, read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md. Pull:

• Role from ## Who's using this (lawyer vs. non-lawyer changes the work-product header and the non-lawyer gate below).
• Registered in and enforce where from ## IP practice profile and ## Enforcement posture (default jurisdictions if the user doesn't specify).
• Integrations from ## Available integrations (CourtListener / Solve Intelligence / Descrybe — each determines what searches are available to run, what the fallback is, and what gets attributed in the output).
• Decision posture from ## Decision posture on subjective legal calls — this skill never concludes "not confusingly similar."

If ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md contains [PLACEHOLDER] or [Your Company Name], surface this bounce:

I notice you haven't configured your practice profile yet — that's how I tailor posture, jurisdictions, and approval chain to your practice. Two choices: - Run /ip-legal:cold-start-interview (2 minutes) to configure your profile, then I'll run this tailored to YOUR practice. - Say "provisional" and I'll run this against generic defaults — US jurisdiction, middle risk appetite, lawyer role, no playbook — and tag every output [PROVISIONAL — configure your profile for tailored output] so you can see what I do before committing.

Provisional mode

If the user says "provisional," run the clearance normally using these generic defaults: middle risk appetite, lawyer role, US jurisdiction (USPTO + common-law), no playbook (do the full analysis rather than matching against a position list). Tag the reviewer note and every finding block with [PROVISIONAL]. At the end of the output, append:

"That was a generic run against default assumptions. Run /ip-legal:cold-start-interview to get output calibrated to YOUR practice — your playbook, your jurisdiction, your risk appetite. 2 minutes."

Intake

Ask once, in a single batch (don't drag out a quick job):

A few questions before I run the triage: 1. Proposed mark. Exact spelling, any stylization, and whether it's a word mark, logo, or both. 2. Goods or services. What's actually being sold or offered under this mark. A sentence or two — I'll map to international classes. 3. Classes. If you already know the Nice classes, list them. Otherwise describe the goods/services and I'll suggest the likely classes and confirm with you before running the search. 4. Jurisdictions. Where do you plan to use, register, or enforce? (US / EU / UK / Madrid / specific countries — I'll default to Registered in from your practice profile if you don't say.) 5. How it will appear in use. Any taglines, adjacent product names, trade dress, or design elements that would show up with it in market.

Wait for the answer. If the description is vague ("AI tool," "platform"), push once:

Give me the actual thing a customer sees — is it a consumer mobile app, enterprise API, physical product, service? The classes turn on this.

Knockout check

Before any database search, run the intrinsic problems that kill a mark regardless of prior registrations. For each, assess plainly and flag. Do not rationalize away a clear issue.