fto-triage

Freedom-to-operate triage is an early screening process that identifies potentially blocking utility patents before launch. You need it when preparing for market entry to flag initial claim mapping risks and gather open questions for formal counsel review.

First-pass claim charting maps your product or process elements element-by-element against the independent claims of potentially blocking utility patents. This triage process builds initial mappings to show where your product overlaps with existing patent claims and where it avoids them.

Yes, the workflow proceeds using user-supplied patents when no approved patent-research integration is connected. It will clearly state that no database search was performed and conduct element-by-element analysis on the patents you provide directly.

No, this triage limits scope to utility patents only, explicitly routing design patents and plant patents out of scope. It flags trade dress as a parallel track requiring separate analysis outside of this utility patent claim charting workflow.

An FTO triage provides early, structured risk screening with first-pass claim charts and open questions, explicitly applying willfulness and non-opinion guardrails. A formal FTO opinion requires comprehensive validation by registered patent counsel to resolve the flagged open questions.

You need to provide a product or feature description, technical details, target jurisdictions, and timing for the launch risk screening. This intake information drives the element-by-element analysis across independent claims of the 2-5 most plausible blocking patents.