patent

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: patent
description: "Patent prior-art and landscape intelligence skill — not generic patent help. Commits to one of five sub-use-cases via forcing intake (novelty search / freedom-to-operate / competitive landscape / acquisition diligence / litigation prior-art) before any search runs. Searches Google Patents, Espacenet, USPTO, and optionally Lens.org for citation-graph signals. Output is an editable Word document (.docx) with verdict, ranked closest art (claim-text extracted), CPC-class-aware landscape, family-resolved hits, geographic coverage, FTO flags where applicable, strategy recommendations, and full audit log. Use when the user asks for patent searching or analysis (e.g., 'prior art search for [invention]', 'freedom to operate analysis for [product]'). Produces search signal, not legal advice — always recommends consulting a patent attorney before filing or licensing decisions. Trademark, copyright, and trade-secret questions are out of scope."
license: MIT
metadata:
  source_spec: "megaprompts/11-patent-megaprompt.md"
  build_pattern: "Path B (direct conversion)"
  research_pack_convention: "Agent Integrity Rules verbatim per PR #657 audit; sub-use-case routing variant"
  version: 1.0.0
---

# Patent — Prior-Art + Landscape Intelligence

> **Portability:** Requires `web_fetch` (Google Patents, Espacenet, USPTO), `WebSearch` (adjacent academic art), Node.js with `docx` package, and optionally Lens.org API key for citation-graph signals. Works in Claude Code CLI natively. In Claude.ai with web tools + Code Execution + BYOK Lens.org, the workflow is supported.

> **Out of scope:** trademark, copyright, trade-secret. These are flagged at intake. Use a different skill or qualified counsel.

> **Legal disclaimer:** This skill produces search signal, not legal advice. Verdicts are technical assessments. **Always consult a patent attorney before filing or licensing decisions.**

## Non-Generic Framing — The Differentiator

This skill is **prior-art + landscape intelligence**. It **refuses to be a bucket**. Every invocation commits to one of five sub-use-cases via the grill-me intake before any search runs. The chosen sub-use-case dictates the entire search strategy, ranking heuristics, and DOCX emphasis.

| Sub-use-case | Search strategy | DOCX emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| **Novelty search** | Narrow + claims-text focused; pre-filing date irrelevant | Closest art + claim-differentiation |
| **Freedom-to-operate** | Broad + active patents only; jurisdiction-filtered | FTO flags + claim-by-claim risk |
| **Competitive landscape** | Breadth + filer tally + CPC trends | Filer map + investment hotspots |
| **Acquisition diligence** | Specific assignee + portfolio scope + assignment chain | Portfolio table + ownership verification |
| **Litigation prior-art** | Specific target patent + adjacent art before priority date | Knock-out candidates ranked by relevance |

See [`references/sub_use_case_routing.md`](references/sub_use_case_routing.md) for the canon.

## Agent Integrity Rules (Research-Pack Convention)

Locked verbatim per PR #657 audit.

- **Execution discipline.** Sequential search calls only. **1 query/sec rate limit.** Confirm response received before next call.
- **Source discipline.** Cite only patents returned by THIS session's tool calls. Training knowledge labeled `[Not from search — reference information]` and excluded from counts.
- **Three-count tracking.** Queries sent / patents received (shown) / patents cited. Surfaced in audit log.
- **Retry policy.** On failure → wait 3s → retry once → log. After 3 consecutive failures across tools: stop, alert user, explain what's missing.
- **Plan-tier detection.** Lens.org free tier = 1000 queries/month. Google Patents has no auth but rate-limits per IP. Detect and surface caps.

## Phase 1: Grill-Me Intake (6 forcing questions, one at a time)

### Q1 (root) — Invention description

> **Describe the invention in 2–3 sentences. What does it do, and what's new about