/fto-triage

name: fto-triage
description: >
  Freedom-to-operate triage — a structured first look at potentially blocking
  patents, not an FTO opinion. Use when a product, process, or feature is
  being evaluated for blocking patents, when asked whether anything stops a
  launch, or to build a claim-chart first pass against the most plausible
  patents before patent counsel review. This skill never concludes a product
  is clear to launch.
argument-hint: "[describe the product / process / feature and jurisdictions — or just the subject and I'll ask]"

/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 `~/.clau