WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) launched its new service under the name of WIPO Proof. Unlike other services of WIPO (Madrid System and Hague System), WIPO Proof is a system that confirms that digital documents exist at a certain time. To be more specific, WIPO Proof protection can be expressed as the stamping of a digital document with date and time. In addition, one of the innovations brought with WIPO Proof has been the evaluation and protection of digital documents among intellectual property products.
Within the scope of WIPO Proof documents such as mentioned below can be registered;
1- Trade secrets (unexplained know-how information)
2- Creative products (audio, visual and all kinds of products)
3- Creative designs (brand logo, pattern, textile, architecture etc.)
4- Industrial designs (technical; schemes, plans, process, etc.)
5- Research (laboratory notes, reports and other inventions)
6- Data (Artificial intelligence learning algorithms, genetic sequencing, etc.)
7- Digitally signed documents (contracts, letters, certificates, etc.)
8- Other (eg distortions on documents, unsigned documents, etc.)
WIPO does not keep the record of these documents. In other words, documents registered within the scope of WIPO Proof are not recorded in any registry (such as trademark, patent etc). WIPO stamps these documents as they belong to you on that date and time, which makes it possible for you to have evidence in future conflicts.
The differences of WIPO Proof from copyright registration are that variety documents can be registered and that providing a digital registration opportunity. In addition, WIPO Proof can protect the multi-layered products, gradually, in which more than one manufacturer participates in the production activity. (eg song-lyrics and music-video content)
In the WIPO Proof system, 20 documents can be processed at once and as of 01/06/2020 20 CHF is charged for each document.
It is unquestionable that the scope of intellectual property products has rapidly expanded and their importance increases day by day. In this context, the step taken by WIPO and this newly introduced system shows that WIPO also adapts to the changing needs of today. Registration of products that can be registered within the scope of WIPO Proof from the system will constitute evidence in cases of plagiarism and infringements, that’s why it is very important to register such digital documents (mentioned above) within WIPO Proof.