1. INTRODUCTION

The World Intellectual Property Organization (the "WIPO"), a specialized UN agency assisting almost 195 countries of the world in developing an international intellectual property legal framework, has launched WIPO PROOF, a new online service that provides tamper-proof evidence of the existence at a point in time of any intellectual asset contained in a digital file format.1

This tool aims to protect the creative and innovative content which when created in today's highly digitalized setup, results in the creation of a multitude of data files, each carrying valuable content. Unless every data generated is watermarked or in some manner earmarked, they could fall prey to misuse or misappropriation by third parties.

  1. KEY FEATURES

WIPO PROOF primarily aims at preventing misuse or misappropriation of any intellectual asset by creating tamper-proof evidence which proves that a digital file existed at a specific point in time, and that it has not been altered since that time. In essence, this feature creates WIPO PROOF token which serves as a date and time stamp of a digital file, which would be like a digital fingerprint of the file. It can be used by parties in actions relating to misuse or misappropriation to establish that the particular intellectual asset was prior in time.

The WIPO PROOF token intends to safeguard intellectual assets at every stage of development from concept to commercialization, whether or not they eventually become formal IP rights. The intellectual assets qualifying for WIPO PROOF token could be anything like AI-based algorithms, large data sets, incomplete manuscripts, musical (re)arrangements, innovations, product designs, business records and strategies, R&D results and any form of trade secrets, but stored in a digital file. For receiving WIPO PROOF token, the creator of the intellectual asset need not share his digital file with the WIPO authorities.

This token can be purchased one at a time for a modest fee, or in bundles of multiple tokens at reduced rates valid during a two-year period.

  1. INDUSLAW VIEW

WIPO PROOF as a tool is a welcome step of the WIPO and appears promising as it will aid and assist parties in dating their digital intellectual asset and claiming prior rights or priority over the same.

However, as a word of caution, WIPO PROOF must be viewed as a service which will assist parties in claiming prior rights over their intellectual property assets during different stages of the development and lifecycle of the asset. It should not be compared or confused with the formal registration of an intellectual property with IP Offices around the world. Registration of an intellectual property is a stronger form of protection, as it is granted after a detailed examination of the protectable subject-matter under relevant intellectual property laws and has more weightage in intellectual property enforcement or defense cases.

Footnote

1 https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2020/article_0012.html

Originally published May 29, 2020.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.