Claim Scope Ladder
Capture the invention at narrow, intermediate, and broad levels so each rung can support a different claim. Free worksheet for patent practitioners.
Written for patent practitioners as a work-aid. Not a substitute for professional judgment.
A structured place to capture the invention at several levels of specificity — narrow, intermediate, and broad — so each rung can support a different claim, using the graduated-specificity drafting technique. It also prompts a check of disclosure support for each rung, the commercial anchor, and a design-around self-test.
This is a capture scaffold for an attorney's own analysis. It mirrors the rungs the practitioner articulates and does not draft claim language. It is not legal advice; claim drafting and scope decisions stay with the practitioner.
The Template
Scope Ladder
Linked Disclosure
Optional — the invention disclosure this ladder builds on. The disclosure usually gives the narrow rung for free.
Invention Summary
A one- or two-sentence summary to anchor the rungs.
Narrow Rung
The most specific version — closest to what was built, with the most limitations.
Intermediate Rung
A middle level — some limitations relaxed while the core remains.
Broad Rung
The broadest defensible version — the essential elements only.
Support in Disclosure
Where each rung finds written-description and enablement support. Flag any rung that outruns the disclosure.
Additional Rungs
Any further useful levels — label and description.
Commercial Anchor
The rung that best maps to the commercial embodiment you most want to cover.
Design-Around Self-Test
For each rung, how might a competitor design around it? Where the broad rung is easy to avoid, note what a narrower rung captures that it misses.
Use it in the platform (coming soon)
Our platform will let you fill this in interactively from a linked disclosure and export a finished document. Until it launches, use the template above.
See the Concept Scanner.
Disclaimer. This worksheet is a practitioner work-aid for capturing an attorney's own analysis. Obviously Not is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice; this worksheet and any output are for informational and documentation purposes only, are not legal, patent, patentability, eligibility, non-obviousness, claim-scope, validity, or freedom-to-operate advice, and do not create an attorney-client relationship. All legal judgment, including whether and how to file or argue, remains with a licensed patent practitioner exercising independent professional judgment. Nothing here predicts an outcome at the USPTO or any court.