Portfolio

/portfolio

Surfaces what's renewing, adds assets, records filings, and audits the register.

Instructions

1. Follow the workflow below and read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/portfolio.yaml.

1. Default (no args): equivalent to --report — show deadlines in the next 90 days grouped by urgency (🔴 lapsed/grace, ⏰ due within window, 🟡 upcoming, 🌐 agent-managed, ❓ unknown).

1. `--report [--days N]`: Mode 2. Change the window with --days (30 / 60 / 90 / 180 typical). Always prepend the work-product header per CLAUDE.md → Outputs. Always close with the verification caveat.

1. `--add`: Mode 3. Walk through a new asset interactively — type, jurisdiction, number, dates, owner, business owner. Capture a custom rule if the jurisdiction isn't built in.

1. `--update`: Mode 4. Record that a maintenance filing or fee payment was made, sync with the IP management system, or change an asset's status. Enforce the consequential-action gate before setting any deadline to filed.

1. `--audit`: Mode 5. Broader health check — deadline hygiene, registration gaps, use-in-commerce questions on §8-approaching marks, owner inconsistencies, expiration horizon, unwatched marks.

1. If the register is empty and an IP management system is connected: Offer Mode 1 — pull the portfolio from the system of record and initialise the register.

1. Guardrail reminder: Computed deadlines are reference only. Every output closes with a line directing verification against the USPTO TSDR, WIPO, or relevant registry before filing or paying. A docketed-but-wrong deadline creates false confidence; do not let the user treat this as the system of record unless the IP management system is sync-integrated.

Examples

/ip-legal:portfolio

/ip-legal:portfolio --report --days 180

/ip-legal:portfolio --add

/ip-legal:portfolio --update

/ip-legal:portfolio --audit

Works better connected

This skill tracks deadlines from what you tell it. It works much better connected to:

• An IP management system (IPMS) via MCP — Anaqua, Clarivate IPfolio, AppColl, Patrix, Alt Legal, FoundationIP. A connected IPMS gives you the full docket, maintenance fee schedules, and incoming correspondence in one place, instead of the register being whatever the lawyer remembers to paste. Ask your IPMS vendor if they have an MCP connector, or see CONNECTORS.md at the repo root for how to get one added.
• USPTO directly via customer number — pulls status, deadlines, and correspondence for your whole portfolio rather than one application at a time. Not currently available as an MCP; on the wish list in CONNECTORS.md.

Without either, paste your docket or upload a spreadsheet and I'll track from there.

Purpose

A trademark registration that isn't renewed on time can be cancelled. A patent without its maintenance fee paid lapses. A domain that expires can be sniped within the hour. All of this is avoidable, and all of it depends on one thing: the right deadline is on someone's calendar, tied to the right registration number, in the right jurisdiction.

This skill maintains that calendar.

Important: deadline reference caveat

The deadline rules this skill applies reflect publicly available requirements as of the skill's build date. IP office requirements, grace periods, fee structures, and maintenance schedules change. Always confirm computed deadlines against the USPTO TSDR / Patent Center, WIPO Madrid Monitor / Patentscope, EUIPO eSearch, UKIPO online records, or the relevant national registry before acting. If you use Anaqua, CPA Global, Clarivate, Alt Legal, or another IP management system, their docket is authoritative for your assets — use this tracker to organize and surface their data, not to replace it. A docketed-but-wrong deadline is worse than an undocketed one: it creates false confidence. "No deadline soon" outputs especially deserve a second look before you rely on them.

Jurisdiction and type assumptions

Maintenance mechanics vary by jurisdiction and asset type:

• US trademarks: §8 Declaration of Use between 5th and 6th anniversary of registration (or §71 for Madrid designations), then combined §8/§9 renewal at 10 years and every 10 years thereafter. §15 Incontestability available after 5 years of continuous use. 6-month grace period with surcharge for §8 and §9; no grace for the underlying use itself.
• Madrid International trademarks: 10-year registration term renewable at WIPO; individual designated countries may have local use or declaration requirements (e.g., US §71).
• EUIPO trademarks: 10-year renewal; 6-month grace with surcharge.
• US utility patents: Maintenance fees due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years from grant. 6-month grace window with surcharge; after that, potential revival by petition if lapse was unintentional.
• US design patents: No maintenance fees — 15-year term from grant for applications filed on or after May 13, 2015 (14 years if earlier). No action required mid-term.
• EPO / national patents: Annuities typically due annually from filing or from national phase entry. National rules vary — confirm per jurisdiction.
• US copyright: No maintenance for works created 1978 or later. Pre-1978 works may have had renewal obligations; flag for attorney review if the asset pre-dates 1964 (rarely in scope for modern portfolios).
• Domains: Annual or multi-year renewal per registrar; typical 30-day grace then redemption period (~30 days at high fee) then drop.

If the portfolio includes assets in jurisdictions not listed above, capture the maintenance mechanic in the register's custom_rules block and the report will surface them as agent_managed — confirm status with the foreign associate rather than computing a date this skill doesn't understand.

The register

Lives at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/portfolio.yaml. Structure:

# IP Portfolio Register
# Generated: [date]
# Last updated: [date]
# Disclaimer: computed deadlines are reference only — confirm with USPTO/WIPO/
# relevant registry or the IP management system of record before acting.

metadata:
  company: "[Company Name]"
  generated: "[date]"
  last_updated: "[date]"
  last_audit: "[date or null]"
  source_system: "[Anaqua / CPA Global / manual / none]"

custom_rules:   # non-built-in jurisdictions captured manually
  []

assets:
  - id: "TM-US-001"
    type: "trademark"                          # trademark / patent / copyright / design / domain
    jurisdiction: "US"
    mark_or_title: "[Mark or title]"
    owner: "[Record owner — registered entity name]"
    status: "registered"                       # pending / registered / lapsed / abandoned / cancelled
    application_number: "[number or null]"
    registration_number: "[number or null]"
    classes: ["9", "42"]                       # Nice classes for TM; CPC/IPC for patents; null otherwise
    filing_date: "[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"
    registration_date: "[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"
    priority_date: "[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"
    grant_date: "[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"         # patents
    next_deadlines:                            # computed; refreshed on --report and --audit
      - type: "§8 Declaration of Use"
        due_date: "[YYYY-MM-DD]"
        grace_end: "[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"
        basis: "5th-6th anniversary of registration"
        action: "File §8 Declaration of Use (or excusable nonuse)"
        status: "upcoming"                     # upcoming / due_soon / overdue / grace / filed
    use_in_commerce: true                      # TM only — drives §8 analysis
    agent_managed: false                       # true for foreign associate / outside counsel managed
    local_agent: null
    docket_id: "[IP-mgmt-system ID or null]"