How to use the IP Clause Review agent skill

What is an agent skill, and what does this one do?

An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file that tells a compatible AI agent how to handle a specific task. This skill is named ip-clause-review and its only file is SKILL.md.

When you paste or attach an agreement, the agent reads the IP parts of it and compares them against your practice profile. It flags weak or missing assignment language first, then produces a memo of per-clause findings ranked by risk, with suggested replacement wording where appropriate. The skill is designed to support a lawyer, not replace one.

• Identifies the agreement type and which side your company is on for IP
• Runs an assignment gap check first for employment, consulting, SOW and work-for-hire documents
• Reviews assignment, ownership, licence grants, warranties and indemnities
• Checks cross-clause consistency, not only clause by clause
• Notes jurisdiction implications such as moral rights, work-for-hire, implied licence and patent indemnity
• Flags subjective IP allocation questions for attorney review rather than deciding them

Before you install: what you need

The skill requires Claude Code or another SKILL.md-compatible agent. It also requires a practice profile file at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md, which is created by running /ip-legal:cold-start-interview. If that file is missing or still contains placeholders, the skill stops and asks you to run the interview first.

You will also need the agreement itself, provided as a file path, a Google Drive link or pasted text.

• Claude Code or another SKILL.md-compatible agent
• A practice profile at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md, created by /ip-legal:cold-start-interview
• The agreement as a file path, Google Drive link or pasted text

Install the ip-clause-review skill

Download the ZIP for this skill from this page and unzip it. Then place the skill folder in one of two locations. For a personal install available across your projects, use ~/.claude/skills/. To share it with one project only, put it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

If you use the Claude apps instead, you can upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: upload under Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Create your practice profile

Before the first review, run the cold-start interview. The practice profile tells the skill your jurisdiction footprint, who approves deviations and at what severity, and the work-product header to put on outputs. Those answers affect whether moral rights waivers are enforceable, whether work-for-hire applies and how broad licence grants can be.

The skill reads the profile from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md. Results depend on that profile being accurate and complete, so check it after the interview.

How to trigger a review with natural requests

You can invoke the skill with its slash command and an argument, or ask in plain language. The skill's description covers requests to review IP terms in employment, consulting, SOW, vendor or licensing agreements, to check assignment language or licence scope, or when an agreement with IP provisions is pasted or attached.

The argument hint accepts a file path, a Drive link or pasted text. If you give no argument, the agent will ask for the agreement.

• Review the IP clauses in ~/Documents/vendor-sow.pdf
• Check the assignment language in this consulting agreement
• Look at the licence scope in this vendor contract and tell me what's risky
• Here is our employment agreement, check the IP ownership terms

Read the memo the skill produces

The output is a memo. For an employment, consulting or SOW document, an assignment gap section appears at the top if the assignment language is weak or missing. Each flagged item includes a severity, the risk, a proposed redline where appropriate, and the escalation path set in your practice profile.

When a clause could allocate IP either way, the skill does not silently decide. It flags the clause for attorney review and lists the factors pointing in each direction. Treat the memo as a draft analysis to take to counsel, not as final advice.

• Assignment gap check (first, for qualifying documents)
• Bottom line
• Clauses ranked by severity
• Consistency flags across clauses
• Jurisdiction note
• Approval routing

Safety notes: scripts, network and confidential data

This skill runs no scripts and uses no network access, according to its listing. However, the content you give it is processed by your agent. If you paste confidential data into a tool that sends content to an external service, that is a separate decision. Only do this where your organisation has approved that use.

The skill is not suitable for final legal sign-off. Subjective IP allocation questions go to an attorney, and the output is a draft analysis, not advice. Results are also unreliable for jurisdictions or agreement types outside your practice profile.

• No scripts are run by this skill
• No network use by this skill
• Check your organisation's approval before pasting confidential agreements into any external service
• Do not rely on the output without attorney review