Matters
A matter is the container for one invention. Prior art bookmarks, uploaded sources, web links, figures, reference-sign elements, and the assistant conversation all live inside one matter, alongside the applications you file from it (US, EP, PCT). Opening an application switches the entire workspace to its matter.
Each application has its own claims, sections, title, reference, jurisdiction, and attached parties. See the Versioning tab for how applications are versioned and how you fork between them.
When you have no active matter
Out of the box, before you open any application, the app runs in global mode. The full sidebar stays visible: patent search and Classifications at the top, an Organisation section with Parties and Matters, and the Matter and Application sections below. The matter-agnostic assistant can still search patents and the open web from here, but it has no drafts, figures, or saved prior art to read, because none of that exists outside a matter.
Matter-scoped pages (Sources, Figures, Claims, Sections, and the rest) stay in the sidebar without an active matter; opening one shows a prompt to pick a matter first.
Settings still open, but matter-scoped settings (the AI model) are hidden until a matter is active.
Creating a matter
Open Matters from the sidebar and click New matter. An empty matter is created with no applications. From there you can:
- Add an application. Open the matter's applications overview (Edit applications in the matter card's menu) and use New application there. Each application is the editable filing; its title, reference, jurisdiction, claims, sections, and attached parties all live on the application, not on the matter.
- Reference figures and elements from your prose. Figures and reference-sign elements are matter-wide and shared by every application in the matter. A dedicated management surface is being rebuilt; for now the assistant can add, edit, and delete figures and elements via pending changes.
- Bookmark prior-art patents and save web links. These are also matter-wide, available to every application.
The Matters page
Open Matters from the sidebar to manage everything. Each matter is a card, newest first:
- Card. Shows the matter's reference and name, a chip for each application (US / EP / PCT), how many applications and sources it holds, and when it was created. The chips are a read-only summary. Use the search box to filter by matter, application, title, or reference.
- Open a matter. Click anywhere on a card to make it your active matter — the card takes a coloured border and the workspace switches to it, without leaving the page. Click the active card again to drill into its applications overview, where individual filings are opened, edited, and deleted.
- Edit a filing. From the applications overview, open a filing to reach its own page: jurisdiction, working language, title, reference, attached inventors and applicants, and the version history. Edits autosave as you type.
- Matter menu. The menu on each card — the button at its top right, or a right-click anywhere on the card — holds Edit details and Edit applications, then jumps to the matter's other surfaces (Edit sources, Edit figures, Edit reference signs), and Delete matter. Choosing any of them switches the workspace to that matter on the way.
- New matter. A button in the toolbar at the top of the page.
The applications overview
The active matter's filings are listed first, each card showing its jurisdiction, docket and title, attached inventors and applicants, and its abstract. Below them, under Other matters, sit the filings from the rest of your portfolio — flat, without a card fill, and labelled with the matter they belong to, ten at a time behind Show more. The search box filters both groups at once, so a search here reaches every application you own without leaving the page.
Clicking a filing that is not the open one makes it active in place; clicking the open one goes to its details page. Its menu (the button on the card, or a right-click) holds Edit details and Show versions, then Edit claims and Edit sections, and Delete application. Picking any of them on a filing from another matter switches the workspace to that matter too.
Switching between matters
On the Matters page, click a card to open the matter, or an application pill to open a specific filing. That sets your active application, switches the workspace to its matter, and lets you work in Prior Art, Sources, Claims, and Sections. The matter and application you have open persist across sessions: closing the browser, signing out, or coming back through Open App all land you back in the filing you were last working on. Close matter is the one gesture that forgets it — use it when you want to return to global mode.
You can also switch without leaving your current page. The top bar carries two parts, separated by a divider: on the left, where you are (Home and the current page); on the right, what you are working on (the matter, and its filing). Both parts of the scope are switchers. Click the matter to search and open any of your matters, create a New matter, jump to All matters, or Close matter to return to global mode. Click the filing to hop between an open matter's applications (for example US and EP) in place, or add a New application. The filing is shown bright on Claims and Sections, where it is the subject of the page, and dimmed elsewhere, where it is loaded but not in use. When no matter is open, the right side shows Open a matter. Anything you create here opens immediately in the workspace.
What lives where
| Matter-wide | Per application (per version) |
|---|---|
| Figures and reference-sign elements | Title, reference |
| Bookmarked prior-art patents | Jurisdiction (US / EP / PCT) |
| Saved web links and uploaded sources | Claims |
| Assistant conversations | Application sections (Background, Summary, etc.) |
| Configuration: AI model | Inventors and applicants attached to the filing |
The people and organisations you name live in a per-user party list, so you don't re-enter them for every application. On an application's Edit details page you attach them with Add inventor / Add applicant, picking an existing party or creating a new one. The role belongs to the attachment, not the party: the same person can be inventor on one filing and applicant on another. Inventors are always people; applicants can be people or organisations. Attaching a party to a version freezes its details for that filing; see the Versioning tab.
What stays with you across matters
These are tied to your account and persist regardless of which matter is open:
- Theme (dark / light / system)
- Editor preferences including which claim diagnostics are turned on, limitation label style, and prior-art page size
Deleting a matter
Delete a matter from its menu on the Matters page. You cannot delete your last matter. Deletion is permanent: every application in the matter, along with its versions, claims, sections, bookmarks, web links, figures, and elements, all go with it. There is no archive. You can also delete a single application from its menu, which removes that filing and its versions while leaving the rest of the matter intact.