WIPO announced its new service called WIPO PROOF. It produces tamper-proof evidence regarding the existence of a digital file at a specific time.
The service doesn’t prove authorship or anything else then the fact that the relevant work or file exists at a particular moment.
This could be useful in different intellectual property disputes where a priority date has to be proved.
WIPO acts as a time-stamping authority by issuing a token (a unique digital fingerprint of a digital file in any format and size) which is generated and stored on WIPO servers in Switzerland. The service doesn’t use block-chain technology for the time being.
The following categories of intellectual property and other files and data can use WIPO PROOF:
- Trade secrets
- Creative works
- Creative designs
- Industrial designs
- Software code
- Research
- Data
- Digitally signed document
- Other
WIPO PROOF tokens do not expire but they are kept on WIPO’s servers for 5 years. This period can be renewed for another 5 years by paying a fee.
The initial cost of one token which is equal to one file is 20 Swiss francs. A bundle of 10 tokens will cost 190 Swiss francs, whereas 100 tokens will cost 1800 Swiss francs.
You can find more information here.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PLANET 