/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

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