/infringement-triage

name: infringement-triage
description: >
  Infringement triage across trademark, copyright, patent, and trade secret —
  a flag list with the factors cutting each way, not a finding. Use when
  assessing whether someone is infringing your IP or whether you might be
  infringing theirs, when a knockoff or copycat surfaces, or when deciding
  whether a matter is worth pursuing and how.
argument-hint: "[describe the facts and which right — or just the facts and I'll ask which right]"

/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. 6. Produce a flag list with direction — what cuts toward the senior party, what cuts toward the accused, what's mixed. Never conclude. 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, 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 a