/invention-intake

This is a first-pass screen by a non-specialist, not a patentability opinion. The screen never concludes that an invention is patentable — it concludes that it passes the initial screen and warrants a prior-art search and registered-practitioner review, that it needs more information, or that it hits a disqualifier. A prior-art search is a separate step; this skill does not do one.

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. If the practice profile shows trademark- or copyright-only (no patent practice), say so and route the user elsewhere — this is the wrong tool.
2. Follow the workflow below.
3. Run intake. If the user pasted or uploaded a disclosure, read it. If not, ask the seven intake questions (what / problem / differences / inventors / public disclosure / status / technology area) in one batch and wait.
4. Run the six screens: novelty signals, obviousness flags, § 101 eligibility, public disclosure / bar dates, detectability, strategic value. Each screen gets a ✓ / 🟡 / 🔴 verdict with one-line reasoning.
5. Write the invention screen memo to the matter folder (if a matter is active) or the practice outputs folder. Apply the work-product header per role.
6. Bottom-line verdict: PURSUE (schedule prior-art search and attorney review) / INVESTIGATE (needs more info on a specific open item) / DECLINE (state the concrete reason). Never say "patentable."
7. Close with the decision tree (prior-art search / inventor follow-up / specialist review / decline + thank-you / trade-secret route) and the non-lawyer gate if the role is non-lawyer.
8. If the screen hit a within-one-year US disclosure or any public disclosure with foreign rights in scope, flag at the top: time-sensitive.

This skill never concludes that an invention is patentable. If uncertain, flag — a registered patent attorney or agent decides.

Examples

/ip-legal:invention-intake "a new cache-eviction algorithm that uses a learned model rather than LRU; conceived Q1 this year, not yet disclosed, engineering prototype in internal staging"

/ip-legal:invention-intake

(And the skill will ask for the invention, the problem it solves, how it differs, inventors, public disclosure status, usage status, and technology area.)

THIS IS A FIRST-PASS SCREEN, NOT A PATENTABILITY OPINION

Say this at the top of every output. Do not drop it, do not soften it.

This is a first-pass screen by a non-specialist, not a patentability opinion. A patentability opinion requires a prior-art search, full claim construction, and the judgment of a registered patent attorney or agent. This screen does not do a prior-art search, does not assess what is in the art, and does not construct claims. It screens for the obvious disqualifiers (the invention is already on the market, it was publicly disclosed two years ago, it is plainly an abstract idea) and the obvious go-aheads (new mechanism, technical advance, recent conception, in-use secretly). Everything in between needs a prior-art search and a registered practitioner's review. This screen never concludes that something is "patentable" — it concludes that it "passes the initial screen, warrants investigation" or that it does not.

Under-flagging an invention that should have been filed is a one-way door — the one-year US bar runs, foreign rights are lost at first public disclosure, the competitor files first. Over-flagging just means a prior-art search that comes back empty. 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

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