WIPO PROOF is a global, online service that rapidly generates tamper-proof evidence proving your intellectual asset existed at a specific point in time, and that it has not been altered since then. The service creates a WIPO PROOF token – a date and time-stamped digital fingerprint of your intellectual asset, which can be used as evidence in the context of legal disputes.

Use WIPO PROOF as an additional element of your IP management strategy. It complements existing IP systems by helping to safeguard your intellectual assets whether or not they become formal IP rights.

Anyone can use the WIPO PROOF secure online website to quickly set up an account and purchase a WIPO PROOF token. Owners of the original file or any third party can verify a WIPO PROOF token by connecting to the WIPO PROOF online service and choosing “VERIFY TOKEN”. Both processes are quick and easy to use. Find out more about how it works.

A WIPO PROOF token is a digital fingerprint that proves the existence of a digital file at a specific date and time. It is generated using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology, providing certainty that the date and time on the token is exact and has not been tampered with. It can be thought of as a digital notary-type service. Find out more about how it works.

You need any major up-to-date Internet browser, the original digital work, and a WIPO Account. Payment must be received or a valid bundle must be available on your WIPO Account. When a WIPO PROOF token is generated, you will receive:

1. An online acknowledgement that the token has been created.
2. A confirmation email for each purchase containing all of the details associated with your token including a link to download it. Your receipt for the purchase will be included in the downloaded zip file.

When processing more than one digital file at a time (for a single purchase), you will receive only one link to download all of your tokens at once and a single receipt.

We recommend you download the token and store the email, token and original digital file together in the same folder on your device for easy retrieval. We also recommend that you appropriately name each element in order to easily identify them as a package.

You can download your token(s) any time from the WIPO PROOF service by logging into your account and going to your WIPO PROOF dashboard. WIPO stores each token for 5 years from the date it was created, for easy retrieval.

Later on, possibly after several years, you may need to validate your WIPO PROOF token. This could be during a dispute related to your original digital file or its content. With the WIPO PROOF token and an exact, unaltered copy of the original digital file, you can prove you had possession of the original digital file, in the same state, at the specific point in time you generated the token. This is why it is extremely important to keep the original digital file, unaltered, alongside its corresponding WIPO PROOF token.

Owners of the original file or any third party can verify a WIPO PROOF token connecting to the WIPO PROOF service and choosing the “VERIFY TOKEN” service. To verify a token, you must upload two items:

1. The unaltered original file that was used to create the token.
   
2. The corresponding WIPO PROOF token. This can be downloaded from your dashboard.
   

Your token will no longer be valid if the original digital file is modified in any way – including the slightest formatting changes. A WIPO PROOF token is a digital fingerprint of a specific digital file. If you change the digital work in any way, even something as small as adding a period or a comma, it will of course be different from the original file for which the WIPO PROOF token was created. Therefore, the token will not match the modified file.

No, WIPO PROOF only processes digital files.

No. A WIPO PROOF token can be generated for any size of digital file, whether it is numeric, image, executable, text or audio-visual. However, there may be limitations on the customer’s side related to connectivity and/or the types of devices used to access WIPO PROOF.

No, WIPO PROOF does not read or store your original file. Technically, a strong cryptographic hashing function processes your digital document while still in its original location, producing a hash value uniquely identifying that file. The hash value is then used to create the WIPO PROOF token. From the hash value, it is not possible to read or recreate the original file, ensuring 100% confidentiality.

WIPO PROOF tokens can be used in countries that recognize digital timestamping as legitimate or legal proof. WIPO PROOF proves that a digital file existed as a specific version on a specific date and time, and that the file was under the physical possession of the requestor of the WIPO PROOF token. These tokens are likely to be admissible if they can be reliably proven to be generated in compliance with national, regional, or international standards such as in eIDAS. The technologies and systems used by WIPO to generate WIPO PROOF tokens meet the highest standards for reliability, accuracy, integrity and confidentiality. WIPO uses certified hardware compliant to FIPS 140 level 3, advanced electronic seals, a key ceremony witnessed by an independent auditor, and a fully automated, defensible, and auditable chain of evidence.

There is no limit to the validity of the token. You can verify your WIPO PROOF token as long as you are able to make the unaltered original digital file available.

However, while the validity of WIPO PROOF tokens is not subject to expiration, in the long term, there is a risk that the cryptographic algorithms that support the generation of the WIPO PROOF tokens could be broken and hence become obsolete. Should this happen, the WIPO PROOF tokens generated with these algorithms might be deemed to have less evidential value. Although WIPO is using the same strong algorithms used by governments and other organizations processing sensitive medical and financial information, the possible advancement of quantum computing technologies in the next 5-10 years could speed up the time it takes to break today’s cryptographic algorithms. This is a risk faced not only by WIPO PROOF, but also by other similar services.

WIPO commits itself to ensure the service’s cryptographic algorithms remain updated to the latest standards; future enhancements to WIPO PROOF will provide necessary measures to maintain the integrity and evidential value of stored tokens, should any previously used algorithms become broken or obsolete.

Yes. By default, WIPO provides 5 years of safekeeping from the moment of purchase for every new WIPO PROOF token on its secure databases. When the first 5-year period is approaching its end, you will be notified automatically, and a new 5-year period can be requested for an additional fee. WIPO is exploring longer storage periods as part of its future enhancements.

WIPO PROOF uses robust industry standard technology (IETF RFC 3161), thereby reducing the risk of abuse. No external party, not even WIPO, will be able to modify a WIPO PROOF token once generated. By using WIPO PROOF, anyone in the world with a WIPO Account can benefit from a robust, timely and effective service from the world’s trusted and recognized authority on intellectual property.

When working in life science research, you are likely to generate extensive genetic and biochemical data, such as sequence data, which may be an important intellectual asset for you or others for future research and use. This may also include chemical structure information. WIPO PROOF provides you with tamper-proof evidence that your data existed at a certain point in time and thus enables you to develop the full range of your IP options regarding your sequence or chemical structure information. If, for example, you wish to make your data publicly available for open science and innovation, WIPO PROOF may provide you with evidence that you possessed the data set before its publication. If, on the other hand, you wish to maintain your data and their uses undisclosed, WIPO PROOF can give you evidence of your prior user rights in the case of third party patent filings affecting your use of the data. In case you wish to maintain certain biological resources and their uses as a trade secret, obtaining your WIPO PROOF token can discourage possible theft or misuse of these valuable assets, together with other protective measures. WIPO PROOF can strengthen your trade secret protection or patent applications because timestamping your data with WIPO PROOF as such is not a public disclosure and does not create novelty destroying prior art. You therefore will have the opportunity to file patent applications, which include or build on these data, provided that no other publicly available disclosure has been made. Thus, WIPO PROOF can serve as an important tool for you to use the full range of your IP options regarding your genetic and biochemical data and their uses.

No, the digital fingerprint of your file (the hash) is created and date- and time-stamped only at the moment you request a WIPO PROOF token for your file. Tokens cannot be back-dated.

WIPO PROOF’s technical infrastructure is designed to meet the industry standards that define a Trusted Time Stamping Authority (TSA):

1. RFC 3161- timestamps generated by WIPO PROOF are compliant with RFC 3161, an IETF standard, that provides specifications for the implementation of the X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Time-Stamp Protocol (TSP);
2. WIPO PROOF conforms to the requirements specified in the eIDAS regulation - ETSI EN 319 401 and ETSI EN 319 421. These standards specify the general policy requirements for Trust Service Providers (TSP), and policy and security requirements for TSPs issuing timestamps. WIPO is currently preparing to be independently audited and confirmed as fulfilling these standards.

A digital timestamp is considered as “trusted” if it is issued by a Trusted Third Party (TTP) acting as a Time Stamping Authority (TSA). A TSA issues trusted timestamps, which can be used to prove the existence of digital files at a certain point in time, without the risk of tampering by the owner or any other party. TSAs utilize provable, "trusted time" from one or more reliable time sources, such as the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

WIPO PROOF uses hardware-based, redundant time servers that source their time from the globally recognized Global Positioning System (GPS) which uses a network of satellites orbiting the earth. Each satellite carries several atomic clocks and has a very accurate time, which enables the GPS to offer a high-precision time.

The generation and verification of proof of existence for IP and related assets, often presented in courts of law as digital evidence, is a sensitive topic. The backing and certification of such digital evidence by a centralized and neutral authoritative body maximizes trust and asserts more validity than digital evidence without such backing. This authoritative authentication and backing serves to ensure that the underlying technology used in proof of existence is of the highest global standards and that the digital evidence has not been tampered with. The acceptance of verifiable evidence provided through a distributed public blockchain is not yet widely guaranteed in courts, as public blockchains do not have institutional stewardship.

Additionally, what you do on the public blockchain is not anonymous, and this is a common misperception. In fact, public blockchains are only confidential. When a transaction is made, a unique code called a public key is recorded on the blockchain. This key does not contain personal information; however, it can always be linked to an entity or person through other means. Although blockchain entries remain encrypted in the public sphere, WIPO believes that many creators and innovators may prefer to retain complete anonymity, not just confidentiality. WIPO PROOF provides this anonymity, because only WIPO knows that you generated a WIPO PROOF token – no unique identification information is made available to the public.

WIPO is currently looking into the potential evolution of WIPO PROOF to add a blockchain component as an addition to the PKI service, but not replacing it. This blockchain component will be an optional output of WIPO PROOF’s process, and completely at the discretion of our customers to decide to use it or not.

You can recover your account by choosing “Forgot your username” or “Forgot your password” on the login page. Once you’ve logged in, download your unexpired tokens to your device.