We are a trusted independent third party specialized in the protection and audit of digital assets.

Since 1976, we have enabled thousands of digital creators, businesses and investors secure their innovations by providing solutions to protect their intellectual property, ensure the continuity of their business activity, and mitigate cyber and software risks. 

With secure servers based in Europe, ISO 27001 certification and a unique double expertise in IT and legal, our clients benefit from the highest levels of security and protection for all their sensitive assets.

We protect investments in technology by reducing risk and increasing the certainty of asset ownership

We secure business continuity through our software escrow services, in case of supplier failure

We promote digital assets by facilitating their use, management, and transfer

We foster digital innovation by helping businesses implement good practices and meet industry standards in the protection of their assets

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The Vaultinum team are not only experts in legal, but are equally as knowledgeable in all things tech. What’s more, with our diverse and global workforce, our team brings truly international insight and experience in some of the world’s most thriving markets today.

We work with some of the best names in the industry

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With Vaultinum, benefit from the highest levels of security and protection for all your sensitive assets.

About us: a team of IT and IP experts since 1976 | Vaultinum

Tech Due Diligence is the process of evaluating a company's technology assets and intellectual property to identify any potential risks or issues. This is particularly important in the tech industry where immaterial assets such as software can be a company's most valuable asset. It helps companies to make informed decisions and mitigate potential risks before they become actual problems.

Tech Due Diligence is important because it helps companies to:

Identify any potential legal or regulatory risks

Evaluate the quality and value of a company's technology assets, including their scalability

Ensure that the company's intellectual property is protected

Without proper Tech Due Diligence, companies could face legal or financial consequences due to overlooked risks or issues.

Tech Due Diligence typically involves a comprehensive review of a company's technology assets, including:

Software licenses, including open source software

At Vaultinum, our Tech Due Diligence solutions are run in 3 steps: an online assessment, a full code scan to identify any potential coding issues or vulnerabilities, and an interview with an IT Expert that contextualises the results and provides an actionable report that is understandable for non tech people. Vaultinum’s Tech Due Diligence Solutions will thus assess the entire IT infrastructure, in a 360-degree, data-driven approach.

Tech Due Diligence is a critical process for companies in the tech industry or their investors. Its purpose is to assess the quality of a Tech company’s software in terms of cybersecurity, intellectual property, scalability, and maintainability and ensure they are compliant with regulatory requirements and aligned with the company’s business strategy. The results will be more insightful if the provider’s Tech Due Diligence methodology includes a comprehensive code scan. 

By working with a trusted third party like Vaultinum, companies can rest assured that their technology assets have been thoroughly evaluated and any potential risks have been identified.

I WANT TO PERFORM A TECHNOLOGY DUE DILIGENCE

The opinions, presentations, figures and estimates set forth on the website including in the blog are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. For legal advice you should contact a legal professional in your jurisdiction.

The use of any content on this website, including in this blog, for any commercial purposes, including resale, is prohibited, unless permission is first obtained from Vaultinum. Request for permission should state the purpose and the extent of the reproduction. For non-commercial purposes, all material in this publication may be freely quoted or reprinted, but acknowledgement is required, together with a link to this website.

Marine is our Marketing Director. She is a branding and brand activation specialist with international experience in BtoB and BtoC.

Marine Yborra

Learn about the importance of Tech Due Diligence when preparing for an investment in a Tech Company with Vaultinum's ultimate guide.

The ultimate guide to Tech Due Diligence

As a Tech Investor looking to invest in a software company, or an M&A lawyer managing this investment process, performing a Tech Due Diligence is crucial to ensure that you make a sound investment decision. A Tech Due Diligence process involves a comprehensive review of the software company's technology stack, including its software code, systems, infrastructure, and intellectual property. In this article, we will guide you through the process of conducting a Tech Due Diligence on a software company.

Determine the Scope of the Tech Due Diligence

The first step in conducting a tech due diligence is to determine the scope of the Due Diligence. This involves understanding the business goals of the software company, the type of software they develop, and the technologies they use. This information will help you identify the areas that need to be reviewed during the Due Diligence process.

Review the Software Code and Infrastructure

Once you have determined the scope of the Tech Due Diligence, the next step is to review the software code and infrastructure. This involves examining the software architecture, the software source code, the coding practices, the development processes, and the deployment practices of the software company. It is also important to review the infrastructure that supports the software, including the servers, databases, and networks. 

The purpose of this step is to identify any potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in the software code and infrastructure. These can include security flaws, performance issues, scalability challenges, and compliance risks. It is also important to assess the overall quality of the software code and infrastructure to ensure that it is reliable and maintainable in the long term. 

Evaluate Business Alignment and Legal Compliance

Conducting a comprehensive tech due diligence requires a multifaceted approach that goes beyond assessing the technical capabilities of a company's technology stack. It is crucial to analyze how well the technology development aligns with the business objectives to ensure that the technology is delivering value to the organization. Additionally, evaluating any compliance issues arising from the company's intellectual property portfolio is critical to avoid potential legal disputes. This includes assessing the strength of the company's patents, trademarks, and copyrights, and identifying any potential infringement risks. GDPR regulations in Europe also need to be considered, as compliance with these regulations is crucial to avoid hefty fines and legal issues. A thorough review of the company's data management practices, including data privacy and security measures, is therefore essential.

To wrap things up, conducting a Tech Due Diligence on a software company is a must-do process for lawyers and investors alike when making investment decisions. Usually, this is done by an outside specialist who can give an unbiased, detailed, and contextualized analysis. If you want the full picture when it comes to understanding the technology, make sure to choose a provider that includes an automated code scan as part of their Tech Due Diligence solution. That way, you'll get a complete 360 degree view of what's under the hood. 

By following the process outlined in this article, you can ensure that your Tech Due Diligence process is thorough and effective, delivering the critical information to validate your decision to invest in a given technology infrastructure. It's important to keep in mind that a Tech Due Diligence done right can help you steer clear of costly mishaps and move you towards investing in structures that could have greater potential for growth.

Although OSS can bring significant benefits and save a lot of time, it can also come with potential risks that may have a high financial and legal costs.

One of the primary risks associated with OSS is the possibility of violating intellectual property (IP) rights. It is therefore fundamental to ensure that the audited organisation has proper processes in place to control and regulate the use of open-source software internally and ensure this usage complies with the license's T&Cs.


Many OSS licenses have specific requirements that must be followed, such as providing attribution or making any modifications to the open-source component available to the public. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in lawsuits and costly fines. A well-designed Tech Due Diligence will thus include an analysis of the open source and other third-party licenses used by the company and an assessment of whether they are complying with all requirements. The results of this due diligence will be even more insightful if the process includes a source code scan, able to identify all the open-source and third-party software in use in the source code.

Are you looking to invest in a software company? Learn how to conduct a thorough tech due diligence process to ensure your Tech investment is secure. Our guide for legal and tech professionals covers everything you need to know.

How to Perform a Tech Due Diligence on a Software Company: A Guide for Legal and Tech Professionals

Programmers and software developers may be experts in their scientific domain, but ask any of them, and they will let you know that software development is as much an art as it is a science. After all, when a team of coders creates software, it is nothing short of a creative synergy that emanates from them. So, if software code is an expression of the coder's creativity, how can it be protected?

That's where software copyright comes in. Copyright law protects all artistic expressions, and computer software falls under this purview. That's why it is important for all programmers and developers to have a clear idea of how to protect software using copyright. 

Before understanding how to get software copyrights, it is important to understand what it is in the first place. To put it simply, software copyright refers to the use of national and international copyright laws to protect the developer's source code. Copyright laws differ from country to country, but the essence in most cases remains the same.

Algorithms or the logic behind a software tool are not patentable, so you won't be able to file an application for a patent. But the expression of the idea, i.e., the source code of the program, can come under copyright protection. In general, a programmer automatically gets the copyright of any code they create, and this extends for 70 years in most cases. However, the extent of the copyright remains only in the code; the idea behind it can not come under intellectual property protection.

So, now you know what software copyright is and how it works in most cases. But why should you go through the trouble of protecting your software with copyright?

Why It Is Essential To Protect Copyright In Software

Software is unique in the sense that it can not work without being copied. For a software program to run, it must be copied from any tertiary memory device to the system's primary memory. This itself is an unavoidable act of copying.

However, such copying is not considered a crime as it is essential for the software to function. The problem arises when the software code is copied by a third party that aims to gain from such copying. Not only direct copying but the adaptation of software code into another computer programming language may also fall under copyright infringement. 

To prevent this from happening, software developers and publishers distribute their software under different licenses. Despite that, any computer user knows that software piracy is currently a multi-billion dollar industry. The moment a new software application is created, hundreds of copycats surface, often with similar names and functionalities. 

So, if you intend to protect your software against intellectual property theft, then it is essential that you know how to protect software using copyright.

What Are The Benefits Of Protecting Copyright In Software?

Let's face it: software takes time and resources to develop. So, it is only natural that the creators will want to protect the final product against intellectual property theft. After all, the code that you've written might be the only way to solve a particular problem. In case other developers get unfettered access to it, they can use it in any way without your permission.

 This is where copyright comes in. When you get copyright protection for your software, this means you're in complete control of the code's ownership rights. Other developers cannot use the code without your permission. In this way, you exercise effective control over your creation.

As we've already mentioned before, the moment your code's in the compiler, you're entitled to its copyright. Materializing copyright protection for your software is tantamount to declaring to the world that you're the owner of the code. At this point, no one can get away with unauthorized copying of your code.

If you're filing a lawsuit against another party for copyright infringement, then legal copyright makes it easier to claim damages. Today, given the easy methods for software distribution, claims can be as high as hundreds of thousands of dollars. Winning such claims is made easy with copyright.

In most countries, the law doesn't allow the software to be patentable. In such a case, copyright laws are your only method to protect your software from unlawful use. What's more, copyrighted software can give you better terms in different licensing agreements. These are only some of the benefits that you can get from copyrighting software. At the same time, it's essential to know in what ways your software copyrights can be infringed. That's what we're going to touch upon in the next section.

Methods Of Software Copyright Infringement

Most software is distributed under specific End User License Agreements (EULA). End-user license piracy occurs when end-users violate the terms of this license. This can take many forms, such as using unlicensed software or using more copies of the software than the user is licensed to use.

This form of infringement takes place when PCs are sold with unlicensed software preloaded. Many dealers also buy one legal license but make illegal copies of it for multiple uses.

This is the most common form of software copyright infringement, where a duplicate copy or sham replica of software is sold purporting to be the original software.

4. Pirated Distribution Over the Internet

Nothing new needs to be said about online software piracy, where illegal copies of software are placed on third-party servers. These can be downloaded for free in most cases.

How Can You Protect Your Software Intellectual Property?

So, if there's one thing clear from the above discussion, it's this: software is protected by copyright laws, whereas inventions, even those that use the software, are protected by patents. Of course, the details of such protection vary from country to country, with some regions granting patents for software ideas as well.

 Now, the question arises: if software copyrighting is an automatic process and your source code is your own, then why do you need to worry about copyrighting the software in the first place.

The truth is, the problem is deeper than you'd think at first glance. Today, the most valuable businesses in the world are technology companies. Be it Google, Apple, Microsoft, or Samsung, technology is the end-all be-all of the 21st century. Even traditional businesses are massively reliant on technological solutions for running their day-to-day operations.

And wherever there's technology, there's software. And wherever there is software, there are lawsuits. We don't really pay much attention to these aspects when using technology, but major corporations today are fighting legal battles over the ownership of code. As one business creates software, very soon thereafter, others will emulate the functionality and come out with similar tools. Since ideas can not be patented, the question of rightful ownership arises.

But why is code ownership such a messy concept? Ask any coder, and they will tell you that coding itself is a messy and complicated process. At the same time, it is rarely an isolated process where a single genius comes up with a groundbreaking piece of code. Instead, coding and software development is a collaborative process, where many experts come together to create functional code.

And herein lies the problem. What if a developer working in your organization leaves and joins a competitor and shares some parts of the code they've created while in your employ? This is a direct violation of your intellectual property rights and can have immense financial ramifications.

In another scenario, several competing businesses might be working to find the solution to the same problem. Even more, these businesses can often come up with similar solutions and try to market them. Who, then, gets the benefit of being the prime mover?

This question needs to be settled by an independent third party, who can verify which code was created and deployed first. This might be very tough to establish without the help of timestamp-based records.

 And that's where Vaultinum comes into play.

Think of Vaultinum as the digital equivalent of a photo finish. Just as racers decide who the winner is among close contenders with a photo finish, Vaultinum helps ascertain code ownership.

How does it work? The process is simple: when you create a piece of code, you can register it with Vaultinum through our deposit solution.

A deposit is a solution which is recognized in court that allows software developers, digital innovators and database owners to prove the ownership of their creation and secure their intellectual property rights.

When you upload your source code, Vaultinum timestamps it to prove the existence of this code at this particular point in time. Once your code is registered, you can then rely on the Vaultinum certificate to verify and establish your ownership over the code.

What's more, when you're registering your source code with Vaultinum, we also offer to provide escrow agreements that will increase your chances of securing of deals with clients, through the reassurance of client access in the event of supplier failure.

Software development professionals can have peace of mind knowing that with our services, their creative rights will be protected. At Vaultinum, we work with the best techno-legal professionals to protect your software rights. 

10 minutes. That's all it takes to create an account, upload the files,  and obtain a certificate as proof of your deposit. Talk to us today, you won't regret it.

Kristin is our Senior Legal Officer at Vaultinum, who has previous experience working in multiple high tech industries as well as international experience across areas of IP law.

Kristin Avon

For any creative artist, protecting their work is a matter of paramount importance. After all, any work of art, be it a literary piece, a musical, or a painting, needs protection from unlawful elements looking to infringe upon the creator's rights.  But what about computer software?

Discover the reasons why you should protect Software IP and the best methods for doing so

Why And How To Protect Software intellectual property?

Why And How To Protect Software Intellectual Property

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