Professions
Industry: timestamp drawings, processes and know-how
Your drawings and processes circulate among subcontractors. Timestamp them without exposing them, and keep proof of what you mastered before anyone else.
Not everything can be patented, and not everything should be
A machine setting, a formulation, a manufacturing routing, an assembly technique. Much industrial know-how will never be patented, either because it cannot be or because it is better kept secret.
Yet this know-how circulates. Drawings go to a subcontractor, samples to a client, files to an engineering firm. Ipocamp timestamps each document without making it public. Only its fingerprint is recorded in a ledger, and the file need never leave your company.
An example
The day a subcontractor files a patent
What happens
Imagine an SME. For two years, it has used a manufacturing process it developed and keeps secret. It entrusts part of its production to a subcontractor. A year later, the subcontractor files a patent on a very similar process.
Without dated proof
The SME knows it was using the process first, but its documents carry no reliable date. It has to prove its prior use alone, at the risk of having the patent enforced against it.
With Ipocamp
The drawings, routings and tests were timestamped as work progressed, without being made public. With its lawyer, the SME can establish that it possessed the process before the patent was filed, and assert its rights.
Is your situation different?
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With Ipocamp
From engineering office to proof
As you go
Timestamp automatically
An agent installed on your premises timestamps every file dropped into a chosen folder (drawings, bills of materials, test reports).
Before every hand-off
Timestamp what leaves
Before sending a drawing to a subcontractor or a sample to a client, timestamp the version you hand over. You will always know what you delivered, and when.
If challenged
Produce the proof
Each certificate can be verified publicly, without an account. Your lawyer has a dated history, document by document.
Over time
Document the secret
Dated deposits show that the information existed and was protected. This supports trade secret protection, which requires reasonable protective measures.
The file stays with you
Only the fingerprint leaves
The calculation module is installed in your infrastructure. Only the file's fingerprint is sent, and the source file never leaves the company.
Integration with your tools
An API triggers deposits from your software, in volume. Roles, groups, quotas and SSO can be set for each site or subsidiary.
Every format
CAD files, bills of materials, test spreadsheets, photos, process videos. Up to 2 GB per deposit without an account, no limit with a subscription.
What the legal protection covers
Designs and trademarks, on the Professional plan
A product's appearance, its design or its trademark are covered, up to €10,000 per dispute.
Copyright
Original manuals, documentation, visuals and software are covered from the Individual plan.
Patents and manufacturing secrets are excluded
The legal protection does not cover these disputes. Dated proof remains useful, and your lawyer or patent attorney takes over.
Moments to timestamp
All formats are accepted. Up to 2 GB per deposit without an account, no limit with a subscription.
→Drawings and CAD files, at every revision.
→Manufacturing routings, settings and parameters.
→Test reports and lab notebooks.
→Versions sent to subcontractors and clients.
→Written know-how: procedures, operating instructions.
Frequently asked questions
How do you protect an unpatented industrial process?
Keep it secret and prove that you mastered it. Timestamp the documents describing it on Ipocamp, without making them public, and limit their circulation. This evidence also supports trade secret protection.
What if someone patents a process I was already using?
French law protects, under certain conditions, a party who possessed the invention in good faith before the patent was filed. That party may continue to use it personally, provided it can prove it. Dated documents are then very useful. Seek advice from a lawyer or patent attorney.
Will my drawings be published?
No. Only the file's fingerprint is recorded in the ledger, and it cannot be used to reconstruct the content. With the module installed on your premises, the file does not even leave the company.
Does Ipocamp replace a patent?
No. A patent grants a monopoly of exploitation. An Ipocamp deposit proves a date and the content of a file. It is useful before a patent, or instead of one when you choose secrecy.
Can every file in an engineering office be timestamped automatically?
Yes. The agent timestamps every file dropped into the chosen folders, and the API connects Ipocamp to your software.