Track the IP portfolio — registrations, renewals, maintenance fees, and use declarations. Use when checking what's renewing, adding or updating an asset, recording a maintenance filing, or auditing the register for gaps, lapses, and use-in-commerce questions. Receives handoffs from prosecution and clearance work.
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Track the IP portfolio — registrations, renewals, maintenance fees, and use declarations. Use when checking what's renewing, adding or updating an asset, recording a maintenance filing, or auditing the register for gaps, lapses, and use-in-commerce questions. Receives handoffs from prosecution and clearance work.
Surfaces what's renewing, adds assets, records filings, and audits the register.
Instructions
Follow the workflow below and read
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/portfolio.yaml.
Default (no args): equivalent to --report — show deadlines in the
next 90 days grouped by urgency (🔴 lapsed/grace, ⏰ due within window,
🟡 upcoming, 🌐 agent-managed, ❓ unknown).
--report [--days N]: Mode 2. Change the window with --days
(30 / 60 / 90 / 180 typical). Always prepend the work-product header
per CLAUDE.md → Outputs. Always close with the verification caveat.
--add: Mode 3. Walk through a new asset interactively — type,
jurisdiction, number, dates, owner, business owner. Capture a custom
rule if the jurisdiction isn't built in.
--update: Mode 4. Record that a maintenance filing or fee payment
was made, sync with the IP management system, or change an asset's
status. Enforce the consequential-action gate before setting any
deadline to filed.
If the register is empty and an IP management system is connected:
Offer Mode 1 — pull the portfolio from the system of record and
initialise the register.
Guardrail reminder: Computed deadlines are reference only. Every
output closes with a line directing verification against the USPTO
TSDR, WIPO, or relevant registry before filing or paying. A
docketed-but-wrong deadline creates false confidence; do not let the
user treat this as the system of record unless the IP management
system is sync-integrated.
Examples
/ip-legal:portfolio
/ip-legal:portfolio --report --days 180
/ip-legal:portfolio --add
/ip-legal:portfolio --update
/ip-legal:portfolio --audit
Works better connected
This skill tracks deadlines from what you tell it. It works much better
connected to:
An IP management system (IPMS) via MCP — Anaqua, Clarivate IPfolio,
AppColl, Patrix, Alt Legal, FoundationIP. A connected IPMS gives you the
full docket, maintenance fee schedules, and incoming correspondence in one
place, instead of the register being whatever the lawyer remembers to
paste. Ask your IPMS vendor if they have an MCP connector, or see
CONNECTORS.md at the repo root for how to get one added.
USPTO directly via customer number — pulls status, deadlines, and
correspondence for your whole portfolio rather than one application at a
time. Not currently available as an MCP; on the wish list in
CONNECTORS.md.
Without either, paste your docket or upload a spreadsheet and I'll track from
there.
Purpose
A trademark registration that isn't renewed on time can be cancelled. A patent
without its maintenance fee paid lapses. A domain that expires can be sniped
within the hour. All of this is avoidable, and all of it depends on one thing:
the right deadline is on someone's calendar, tied to the right registration
number, in the right jurisdiction.
This skill maintains that calendar.
Important: deadline reference caveat
The deadline rules this skill applies reflect publicly available requirements
as of the skill's build date. IP office requirements, grace periods, fee
structures, and maintenance schedules change. Always confirm computed
deadlines against the USPTO TSDR / Patent Center, WIPO Madrid Monitor /
Patentscope, EUIPO eSearch, UKIPO online records, or the relevant national
registry before acting. If you use Anaqua, CPA Global, Clarivate, Alt Legal,
or another IP management system, their docket is authoritative for your
assets — use this tracker to organize and surface their data, not to replace
it.
A docketed-but-wrong deadline is worse than an undocketed one: it creates
false confidence. "No deadline soon" outputs especially deserve a second
look before you rely on them.
Jurisdiction and type assumptions
Maintenance mechanics vary by jurisdiction and asset type:
US trademarks: §8 Declaration of Use between 5th and 6th anniversary of
registration (or §71 for Madrid designations), then combined §8/§9 renewal
at 10 years and every 10 years thereafter. §15 Incontestability available
after 5 years of continuous use. 6-month grace period with surcharge for §8
and §9; no grace for the underlying use itself.
Madrid International trademarks: 10-year registration term renewable at
WIPO; individual designated countries may have local use or declaration
requirements (e.g., US §71).
EUIPO trademarks: 10-year renewal; 6-month grace with surcharge.
US utility patents: Maintenance fees due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years
from grant. 6-month grace window with surcharge; after that, potential
revival by petition if lapse was unintentional.
US design patents: No maintenance fees — 15-year term from grant for
applications filed on or after May 13, 2015 (14 years if earlier). No action
required mid-term.
EPO / national patents: Annuities typically due annually from filing or
from national phase entry. National rules vary — confirm per jurisdiction.
US copyright: No maintenance for works created 1978 or later.
Pre-1978 works may have had renewal obligations; flag for attorney review
if the asset pre-dates 1964 (rarely in scope for modern portfolios).
Domains: Annual or multi-year renewal per registrar; typical 30-day
grace then redemption period (~30 days at high fee) then drop.
If the portfolio includes assets in jurisdictions not listed above, capture
the maintenance mechanic in the register's custom_rules block and the
report will surface them as agent_managed — confirm status with the
foreign associate rather than computing a date this skill doesn't understand.
The register
Lives at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/portfolio.yaml.
Structure:
# IP Portfolio Register# Generated: [date]# Last updated: [date]# Disclaimer: computed deadlines are reference only — confirm with USPTO/WIPO/# relevant registry or the IP management system of record before acting.metadata:company:"[Company Name]"generated:"[date]"last_updated:"[date]"last_audit:"[date or null]"source_system:"[Anaqua / CPA Global / manual / none]"custom_rules:# non-built-in jurisdictions captured manually
[]
assets:-id:"TM-US-001"type:"trademark"# trademark / patent / copyright / design / domainjurisdiction:"US"mark_or_title:"[Mark or title]"owner:"[Record owner — registered entity name]"status:"registered"# pending / registered / lapsed / abandoned / cancelledapplication_number:"[number or null]"registration_number:"[number or null]"classes: ["9", "42"] # Nice classes for TM; CPC/IPC for patents; null otherwisefiling_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"registration_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"priority_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"grant_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"# patentsnext_deadlines:# computed; refreshed on --report and --audit-type:"§8 Declaration of Use"due_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD]"grace_end:"[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"basis:"5th-6th anniversary of registration"action:"File §8 Declaration of Use (or excusable nonuse)"status:"upcoming"# upcoming / due_soon / overdue / grace / fileduse_in_commerce:true# TM only — drives §8 analysisagent_managed:false# true for foreign associate / outside counsel managedlocal_agent:nulldocket_id:"[IP-mgmt-system ID or null]"outside_counsel:"[firm or null]"business_owner:"[email or team]"notes:""-id:"PAT-US-001"type:"patent"jurisdiction:"US"mark_or_title:"[Invention title]"owner:"[Owner]"status:"granted"application_number:"[number]"registration_number:"[patent number]"filing_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD]"grant_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD]"priority_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD or null]"expiration_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD]"# 20 years from earliest non-provisional filingnext_deadlines:-type:"3.5-year maintenance fee"due_date:"[YYYY-MM-DD]"grace_end:"[YYYY-MM-DD]"basis:"3.5 years from grant"action:"Pay maintenance fee (small/micro entity if applicable)"status:"upcoming"claims_count:20entity_size:"large"# large / small / micro (drives USPTO fees)docket_id:nulloutside_counsel:nullbusiness_owner:nullnotes:""
Status values for next_deadlines:
upcoming — more than 90 days out
due_soon — due within 90 days, not yet filed
overdue — past the primary due date, within grace window (if any)
grace — in the grace period (explicit flag — carries surcharge)
lapsed — past grace with no action; asset effectively lost unless revivable
IP management system connected (Anaqua, CPA Global, etc.): pull the portfolio via its integration. The IP system is the authoritative source; this register mirrors it and adds no deadlines the system doesn't already have.
No IP management system, but spreadsheet / export available: ask the user to share the export. Import what's present; flag any asset missing a registration or grant date as unknown for deadline computation.
Nothing at hand: walk through assets interactively — type, jurisdiction, number, key dates, owner.
Step 2: For each asset, compute deadlines
Apply the rules at the top of this file. Populate next_deadlines with the
two or three closest upcoming items — further-out deadlines (10-year renewals
decades away) are computed on demand during reports rather than stored
speculatively.
For assets the skill cannot confidently schedule:
Unknown jurisdiction rules → add a stub under custom_rules and flag the
asset agent_managed: true with a TODO to confirm with the foreign associate.
Missing dates needed for computation (no grant date for a patent, no
registration date for a TM) → set next_deadlines empty with a note in
notes, and list the asset as unknown in the initialisation summary.
Step 3: Write the register
Generate portfolio.yaml at the config path. Show a summary:
Portfolio register initialised.
Assets: [N]
Trademarks: [N] ([N registered] / [N pending])
Patents: [N] ([N granted] / [N pending])
Copyrights: [N]
Designs: [N]
Domains: [N]
Deadlines computed: [N]
Agent-managed / jurisdiction TBC: [N] — confirm with foreign associates
Unknown (missing key dates): [N] — fill in before relying on reports
Run /ip-legal:portfolio --report to see what's due.
Default window: 90 days. Refresh computed deadlines for every asset before
producing the report — don't rely on stored dates alone.
Output (prepend work-product header per ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md → Outputs):
IP PORTFOLIO DEADLINE REPORT — [date]
[Company Name] — window: next [N] days
🔴 LAPSED / IN GRACE ([N])
[Asset ID] / [Jurisdiction] / [Type] / [Mark or title]
[Action] — original due [date], grace ends [date]
Status: [grace / lapsed]
⏰ DUE WITHIN [N] DAYS ([N])
[Asset ID] / [Jurisdiction] / [Type] / [Mark or title]
[Action] — due [date]
Basis: [e.g., "5th-6th anniversary of registration"]
[Agent: firm / docket: id — if present]
🟡 UPCOMING (next window beyond 30 days, within [N] days)
[list]
🌐 AGENT-MANAGED ([N])
[Asset ID] / [Jurisdiction] — managed by [local agent]; confirm directly
[Asset ID] / [Jurisdiction] — no local agent recorded; add with --update
❓ UNKNOWN ([N])
[Asset ID] — missing [field]; cannot compute deadline
Confirm with [IP management system / USPTO TSDR / relevant registry] before relying on this report.
SUMMARY
Total assets tracked: [N]
Deadlines in window: [N]
Last audit: [date]
Close the report with the caveat line: "Computed from portfolio register. Verify each deadline against the USPTO/WIPO/registry of record before filing or paying."
If the report lists more than ~10 assets, or any time the user asks: offer the dashboard (see CLAUDE.md ## Outputs → Dashboard offer for data-heavy outputs). Shape the offer for this output — counts by registration status (live / in grace / lapsed / pending), a deadline timeline, and a sortable portfolio table with jurisdiction, type, and next-action date.
Mode 3: Add
/ip-legal:portfolio --add
Interactive add of a single asset. Ask for:
Type (trademark / patent / copyright / design / domain)
Jurisdiction
Mark or title / invention name
Owner (record owner — matters for §8 filings and assignments)
Source — is this being tracked in the IP management system under a docket ID?
Outside counsel / foreign associate, if any
Business owner (who does this matter to — product line, brand manager)
After capture:
Compute next deadlines per the rules at the top of this file.
If jurisdiction rules aren't built in, walk through the custom_rules capture flow (see below).
Append to assets: in portfolio.yaml.
Custom rules capture
When a jurisdiction isn't in the built-in list:
I don't have maintenance rules for [Jurisdiction] / [Asset type] built in.
Let me capture them so we can track this going forward.
What maintenance events apply? (Renewal every N years? Annuities annually?
Declarations of use? Something else?)
What triggers the due date — filing date, registration date, grant date,
national phase entry, anniversary of something else?
Is there a grace period? At what cost?
Is there a foreign associate or local agent managing this?
Store under custom_rules: and apply to future assets in that jurisdiction.
Mode 4: Update
/ip-legal:portfolio --update
Consequential-action gate
Before recording that a maintenance filing or fee payment was made: Read
## Who's using this in ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md. If the Role is Non-lawyer:
Recording a §8 declaration, a §9 renewal, a patent maintenance fee payment,
or an international annuity as "filed" has consequences. If the record is
wrong — missed due date, wrong entity size, wrong specimen of use — the
deadline doesn't move, and the asset can still lapse. Have you confirmed
this with the attorney or foreign associate who actually made the filing
(or with the USPTO TSDR / WIPO Madrid Monitor / relevant registry)? If yes,
proceed. If no:
Do not record as filed yet.
Here is what to bring to the attorney: asset ID, jurisdiction, deadline
type, what the IP management system shows, what you believe was filed and
when, and the source of that belief.
If you need to find a licensed attorney, solicitor, barrister, or other authorised legal professional in your jurisdiction: your professional regulator's referral service
is the fastest starting point (state bar in the US, SRA/Bar Standards Board in England & Wales, Law Society in Scotland/NI/Ireland/Canada/Australia, or your jurisdiction's equivalent).
Do not set a deadline's status to filed past this gate without an
explicit yes. Status refresh, report generation, and upcoming-deadline
surfacing do not require the gate.
Sub-modes
Manual update: "We filed the §8 for TM-US-001 on March 4, specimen
attached." Update the matching deadline: status: filed, filed_date,
and compute the next deadline in its lifecycle (for §8 that's the §9
renewal 10 years out).
From IP management system sync: If Anaqua / CPA Global / similar is
connected, pull the latest docket and reconcile. Flag mismatches between
the register and the system of record — the system of record wins; update
the register to match and surface anything the register had that the
system doesn't.
Status change: "Mark TM-US-004 as abandoned." Update status, clear
next_deadlines, note the date abandoned.
Mode 5: Audit
/ip-legal:portfolio --audit
Broader health check beyond this month's deadlines:
Deadline hygiene
Any deadlines in grace status right now? (In progress but surcharge-costing.)
Any lapsed assets that aren't marked abandoned or cancelled? Either
revive or update status.
Any assets with no next_deadlines computed? Either missing data or a
jurisdiction the skill doesn't know.
Registration gaps
Trademark applications filed more than 18 months ago still pending?
Flag for status check at the office — may need response to an action.
Patents filed more than 4 years ago still pending? Flag for prosecution
check.
Use-in-commerce (TM only)
§8 approaching on a mark flagged use_in_commerce: false or uncertain?
The §8 requires use; mark needs a use audit before filing or an excusable
nonuse declaration.
Ownership hygiene
Any assets where the owner is not a currently active entity per the
entity register (if available)? Flag — may need recordal of assignment.
Owner name inconsistencies across assets (same entity, different name
strings)? Surface for cleanup.
Expiration horizon
Any patents expiring in the next 24 months? Even without a maintenance
deadline, the business may want to know — product planning, continuation
strategy, licensing window.
Unwatched assets
Any registered marks not on the watch list in CLAUDE.md → Brand protection?
Flag as a gap for the attorney to decide whether to add.
Output format:
IP PORTFOLIO AUDIT — [date]
DEADLINE HYGIENE
In grace: [N] — acting now avoids lapse
Lapsed (not marked abandoned): [N] — confirm status
Missing next-deadline computation: [N] — fill data or mark agent-managed
REGISTRATION GAPS
TM applications pending >18 months: [list]
Patent applications pending >4 years: [list]
USE IN COMMERCE (TM)
§8 approaching on uncertain-use marks: [list]
OWNERSHIP
Assets with unrecognised owner strings: [N]
Owner name inconsistencies: [list]
EXPIRATION HORIZON (24 months)
Patents expiring: [list]
BRAND WATCH
Registered marks not on watch list: [list]
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
1. [highest priority]
2. [etc.]
Integration: ip-renewal-watcher agent
The ip-renewal-watcher agent in this plugin runs this skill on a schedule
(weekly by default) and posts the Mode 2 report to the channel named in
CLAUDE.md → Renewal alerts. If 🔴 items appear (grace / lapsed), the agent
posts them immediately regardless of schedule.
Handoffs
Receives: new asset records from prosecution skills (when an application
is filed or a mark clears), from clearance skills (when a mark is adopted
and a filing is queued), and from assignment recordals.
Sends: "file §8 now" triggers to the attorney — this skill doesn't file
anything; it tells the attorney the deadline and what to bring.
What this skill does not do
It does not file anything. Every action it surfaces is for the attorney
or foreign associate to execute.
It does not verify deadlines against the USPTO TSDR, WIPO, or any other
registry. It computes them from the dates you give it. The register is
a working copy; the registry is the source of truth.
It does not decide whether to renew. Renewal is a business call — is the
mark still in use, is the patent still valuable, does the domain still
matter. This skill surfaces the deadline and the cost; the business and
the attorney decide.
It does not replace an IP management system for multi-hundred-asset
portfolios. Anaqua, CPA Global, Clarivate, Alt Legal, and similar systems
have direct registry feeds, deadline automation, and annuity payment
services. This skill is best suited for smaller portfolios, or as a
lightweight layer that surfaces what the system of record shows.
It does not read office records to verify status. A §8 shown as "filed"
here means someone told it so — not that the USPTO accepted it. Confirm
acceptance through TSDR or the IP management system.
