Fto Triage

/fto-triage

This is not a freedom-to-operate opinion. A formal FTO opinion requires a comprehensive search, full claim construction, and element-by-element infringement analysis by registered patent counsel. Patent infringement is strict liability; willful infringement triples damages. A "no obvious blocking patents" result from this skill means the triage didn't find one — it does not mean the product is clear.

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 (product/process, technical detail, jurisdictions, known patents, timing).
4. Run a preliminary patent search if a connector is available (Solve Intelligence Patents, or other patent-research MCP). Otherwise say so in the output and proceed with the patents the user has supplied.
5. For the 2–5 most plausible patents, build a claim-chart first pass against each independent claim — element by element. Literal read first; flag doctrine-of-equivalents separately; flag indirect / divided infringement.
6. List open questions a real FTO study would resolve (enforceability, prosecution history, IPR outcomes, license availability, enforcement history of the assignee).
7. Write the triage memo to the matter folder or practice outputs folder. Apply the work-product header per role.
8. End with recommended next steps, a willfulness note (knowledge of specific patents factors into willfulness if the company proceeds without further counsel review), and the non-lawyer gate if the role is non-lawyer.

This skill never concludes that a product is clear to launch. If uncertain, flag — patent counsel decides.

Examples

/ip-legal:fto-triage "an on-device speech recognition model for consumer wearables, US launch first"

/ip-legal:fto-triage

THIS IS NOT A FREEDOM-TO-OPERATE OPINION

The loudest guardrail in the plugin. Say this at the top of every output. Do not drop it. Do not soften it. Do not let the reader skim past it.

This is not a freedom-to-operate opinion. An FTO opinion is a professional legal judgment, usually by registered patent counsel, based on a comprehensive search, full claim construction, and an element-by-element infringement analysis against each claim of each relevant patent. This triage is a structured first look at what might be out there. A "no obvious blocking patents" result means the triage didn't find one — it does not mean the product is clear. Patent infringement is strict liability; willful infringement (which can follow from knowing about a patent and proceeding anyway) triples damages under 35 U.S.C. § 284. The decision to launch, make, use, sell, or import is a business decision informed by a formal FTO study and counsel's judgment — not by this triage. A registered patent attorney or agent evaluates before anyone relies on this for a product decision.

Under-flagging a blocking patent is a one-way door — a product launched, a deposition a year later, treble damages on the table. Over-flagging is a two-way door — the attorney narrows the list in a read-through. Stay on the two-way door side. Always.

A note on willfulness

Reading this triage is reading something about patents. Reading something about patents can, in some circumstances, factor into a willfulness analysis down the road. This is one reason the output is marked as privileged when a lawyer is using it, and why the non-lawyer output is framed as research to take to counsel. Do not discuss specific patents surfaced by this triage outside privileged channels.

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.

Patent FTO matters are particularly common candidates for clean-team or heightened confidentiality at matter-open. Respect the matter's confidentiality marking from matter.md.

Load the practice profile first

Before running triage, 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 (useful for defensive-portfolio cross-check and for jurisdiction defaults).
• Patent OC from ## IP practice profile → Outside counsel roster for the routing step.
• Integrations from ## Available integrations — specifically Solve Intelligence, or any patent-research MCP. Determines what searches are available.
• Decision posture from ## Decision posture on subjective legal calls — this skill never concludes "does not infringe."

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 FTO triage normally using these generic defaults: middle risk appetite, lawyer role, US jurisdiction, 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 in a single batch:

I'll run an FTO triage. A few questions first: 1. Product, process, or feature. What's being made, used, offered for sale, sold, or imported? Describe it plainly — the technical essence, not the marketing pitch. 2. Technical detail. Any architectural diagrams, claim-relevant specs, a public product page, or a spec document you can share? (The more detail, the more real the triage.) 3. Jurisdictions. Where will it be made, used, sold, offered for sale, imported? (Each is a separate infringing act under 35 U.S.C. § 271. I'll default to the US if you don't specify.) 4. Known patents. Are there patents already on your radar — a competitor's portfolio, a known SEP pool, an NPE letter, something an engineer mentioned? 5. Timing. How close is this to launch? If it's months out, the triage is early and design-around is on the table. If it's already shipping, we're in cover-our-downside mode.

Wait for the answer. If the description is vague ("an AI agent," "a database"), push once:

Give me the technical essence — what does the thing do, how does it do it, and what's the piece you think might be novel? Patent claims live at that level.

Scope — utility patents only