recipe-freedom-to-operatelisted

# Recipe: Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) Search Search for potentially blocking patents for a product or technology. Each database uses its own query syntax — see `flowleap-uspto` for the USPTO Lucene grammar. ## Steps ### Step 1: Generate Targeted Searches Build a query per key product feature, in each database's own syntax: ```bash # EPO CQL flowleap patent build-query "<feature 1 description>" --allow-external-processing # USPTO ODP flowleap uspto build-query "<feature 1 description>" --allow-external-processing # Repeat for each feature ``` Done when every key feature has an EPO and a USPTO query. ### Step 2: Search for Potentially Blocking Patents ```bash flowleap --json patent search --query "<CQL for feature 1>" --limit 20 flowleap --json uspto search --query "<recommended_query for feature 1>" --limit 20 # Repeat for each feature ``` **A missing patent-data key never narrows a clearance scope.** If one office answers `provider_keys_required`, search the live office fully and carry the gated office into the deliverable as an explicit missing-key gap — an unsearched jurisdiction is not a cleared one, and web-scraped patent data is not an acceptable substitute for it. Ask for the free key at the end of the turn; when the user adds it, re-run only that office and merge. See `flowleap-keys`. Done when both databases have been searched for every feature, or the gated office is recorded as an open missing-key gap. ### Step 3: Screen to Live, In-Market Candidates Take t