pro-se-patent-workbench

name	pro-se-patent-workbench
description	Use when preparing a self-filed U.S. patent application, especially SCBE-AETHERMOORE non-provisional utility work. Builds official-source registries, prior-art logs, claim support matrices, filing readiness checklists, and attorney-free procedural packets while clearly avoiding legal-advice claims.

Pro Se Patent Workbench

Use this skill when the user is preparing a patent filing themselves and wants book-pipeline discipline: source gathering, draft stages, spelling cleanup, claim support, prior-art logs, and filing readiness.

This skill does not provide legal advice and does not impersonate a lawyer. It helps a pro se applicant organize evidence, drafts, official references, and checklists.

Core Rules

• Use official USPTO sources first for current filing requirements and fees.
• Keep claims, specification, drawings, ADS/oath/micro-entity forms, and prior art as separate workstreams.
• For every claim element, attach a support citation from the specification, figures, or implemented code.
• Flag priority-risk items: supported by provisional, likely continuation, likely CIP/new matter, or product-only.
• Avoid legal conclusions such as "patentable" or "valid"; use "support found," "support missing," or "needs review."
• Preserve micro-entity cost discipline unless the user explicitly chooses extra claims or surcharges.

Default SCBE Commands

From the repo root:

npm run patent:workbench
npm run patent:status
npm run patent:support-scan
node bin/scbe-patent.cjs prior-art-plan

The workbench writes to:

docs/legal/patent-workbench/

Workflow

1. Evidence freeze:

   • export the filed provisional and receipt from Patent Center;
   • record filing date, application number, title, inventor;
   • record repo commit hashes for code support.

2. Official-source registry:

   • run scbe-patent sources;
   • verify USPTO utility guide, Patent Center, DOCX guidance, forms, fee schedule, Patent Public Search, and Inventors Assistance Center links.

3. Claim support:

   • run scbe-patent support-scan;
   • inspect the generated claim support scan;
   • add manual citations where the script only finds weak keyword evidence.

4. Prior-art research:

   • run scbe-patent prior-art-plan;
   • search USPTO Patent Public Search first;
   • then search Google Patents, Lens, Semantic Scholar, and arXiv;
   • save query, result title, publication/patent number, URL, relevance, and how SCBE differs.

5. Draft packet:

   • keep independent claims to 3 and total claims to 20 by default;
   • write specification in neutral technical language;
   • keep coined SCBE terms in definitions/examples, not as claim dependencies.

6. Readiness:

   • run scbe-patent readiness;
   • mark each item with evidence;
   • re-check USPTO fees and DOCX validation on the filing day.

SCBE Claim Families

Start with these families unless the user changes strategy:

• hyperbolic governance gate;
• harmonic cost scaling;
• semantic/tongue weighting;
• runtime gate and audit receipt;
• quarantine containment;
• bijective tamper and identifier canonicality.

Language Guardrails

Prefer:

• "computer-implemented method";
• "one or more processors";
• "non-transitory computer-readable medium";
• "semantic weighting axes";
• "nonlinear governance cost";
• "quarantine containment state";
• "audit receipt";
• "under configured thresholds."

Avoid or qualify:

• "unhackable";
• "impossible";
• "military-grade";
• "guarantees safety";
• "proves alignment";
• "passed the bar";
• "lawyer-equivalent."

Output Contract

End each patent-workbench turn with:

• files created/updated;
• commands run;
• what is verified;
• what still needs manual research;
• whether anything is legal-procedural uncertainty rather than code uncertainty.