Infringement Triage

/infringement-triage

This is a triage, not a finding of infringement or non-infringement. Infringement analysis is fact-intensive and legally complex. Acting on a triage — sending a cease-and-desist, refusing to stop, filing suit, or deciding not to — without attorney review is how companies end up on the wrong side of fee awards, Rule 11 sanctions, declaratory-judgment actions, and (for patents) treble damages.

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. Ask which right is at issue — trademark / copyright / patent / trade secret / mixed. If mixed, run each separately; do not blend.
4. Run common intake (party posture — senior or accused, jurisdiction, timing, exhibits).
5. Walk the mode-specific factors:

• Trademark — circuit's confusion test + dilution (if famous) + false advertising (if a comparative claim).
• Copyright — ownership + registration + access + substantial similarity + fair use + DMCA safe harbor (if applicable).
• Patent — claim-chart first pass (route to fto-triage output structure); literal + DOE; indirect + divided; invalidity defenses to consider.
• Trade secret — secrecy + reasonable measures + misappropriation; preemption + reverse-engineering flags.

1. Produce a flag list with direction — what cuts toward the senior party, what cuts toward the accused, what's mixed. Never conclude.
2. Write the triage memo to the matter folder or practice outputs folder. Apply the work-product header per role.
3. End with recommended next steps, the non-lawyer gate if the role is non-lawyer, and — if the practice posture supports assertion — an offer to draft the C&D via /ip-legal:cease-desist or the takedown via /ip-legal:takedown. Do not draft automatically.

This skill never concludes. If uncertain, flag — the attorney decides.

Examples

/ip-legal:infringement-triage "competitor launched a tool called APEXSEED in class 9 — we have APEXLEAF registered in class 9; likely confusion?"

/ip-legal:infringement-triage "former engineer took notes on our model architecture to a competitor — possible trade secret?"

/ip-legal:infringement-triage

(And the skill will ask which right and for the facts.)

THIS IS A TRIAGE, NOT A FINDING

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

This is a triage, not a finding of infringement or non-infringement. Infringement analysis is fact-intensive and legally complex. The triage identifies the factors and flags the ones that matter most; it does not conclude. A conclusion that something does or does not infringe is a legal opinion that requires an attorney's judgment on the facts, the claim or right scope, the relevant jurisdiction's law, and the likely defenses. Acting on a triage — sending a cease-and-desist, refusing to stop, filing suit, or deciding not to — without attorney review is how companies end up on the wrong side of fee awards, Rule 11 sanctions, declaratory-judgment actions, and (for patents) treble damages.

Under-calling a conflict is a one-way door — a C&D not sent and a mark goes generic in the market; a claim not chased and the statute of limitations runs; a copied copyrighted work kept on the site. Over-calling is a two-way door — the attorney narrows. 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.

Infringement triages often lead into cease-and-desist drafting or takedown routing. Open a matter if one isn't active and the practice is private — the triage, the C&D, and any downstream response belong in one workspace.

Load the practice profile first

Read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md. Pull:

• Role from ## Who's using this.
• Enforcement posture from ## Enforcement posture — the triage output should end with a routing suggestion consistent with the stated posture (aggressive / measured / conservative) and the named approver for the relevant letter type.
• Registered in / enforce where from ## IP practice profile — determines which circuit / jurisdiction test to apply by default.
• Integrations from ## Available integrations — CourtListener, Solve Intelligence each affects whether the triage can cite to case law, prior rulings, or prior art.
• Decision posture from ## Decision posture on subjective legal calls — this skill never concludes on a subjective threshold.

If the config has [PLACEHOLDER], 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 infringement 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."

Mode selection

Ask at the top, before anything else:

Which right are we triaging? 1. Trademark — confusion, dilution, or false advertising 2. Copyright — substantial similarity, fair use, DMCA safe harbor 3. Patent — claim-chart first pass, literal read + doctrine of equivalents 4. Trade secret — secrecy, reasonable measures, misappropriation 5. Mixed / not sure — describe the facts and I'll pick

If the user picks "not sure," help them sort. The same facts can implicate multiple rights (e.g., a competitor's product uses our logo — trademark; and the product is a near-copy of ours — possible patent, copyright on packaging, possible trade dress; and a former employee launched it — trade secret).

If more than one right is in play, run the triage for each, separately. Don't mash them together. Each right has different factors, different jurisdictional rules, and different remedies.

Intake (common to all modes)

Before I walk factors: 1. Posture. Are you the potentially senior party (they're taking yours) or the potentially accused party (we're the ones being looked at)? The factors are symmetric but the output differs — a "mine's being copied" triage routes toward an assertion letter; a "we might be exposed" triage routes toward a risk memo. 2. Jurisdiction. Which country / circuit / court? US federal default if not specified. Flag if foreign law may apply.