FAQ Deposit

A source code deposit is a process which allows the owner of a software, a source code, or any other digital asset to protect the intellectual property of the asset. Once the source code has been deposited on the Vaultinum Platform, we deliver a certificate of deposit, with a time stamp, that can be used in all the courts which have signed the berne Convention in case of copyright infringement.

Software and source codes are protected by copyright. This means that from the moment that the source code comes into existence the intellectual property rights of this source code belong to its author. However it is usually good practice to associate the source code with an irrefutable date of creation, in order to provide proof in case of copyright infringement. The best way to provide this proof is to make a deposit with a certified third party, that will provide a certificate and a timestamp for this deposit.

Vaultinum specialises in the protection of digital assets. It is therefore possible to make a deposit for any kind of digital creation that need a digital proof : source code, databases, website, mobile apps, 3D creations and plans, lab books, processes, methods, technical documentation etc. The assets must be in a digital format as vaultinum does not accept physical deposits.

Once uploaded on the Vaultinum Servers, the source code is immediately sealed, encrypted using asymmetric encryption, and archived on the Vaultinum servers, hosted in Switzerland.

Yes, a Vaultinum IP deposit certificate will be recognised as a proof of time by all 181 courts which have signed the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention, created in 1886 establishes how "works of the mind" and the rights of their authors should be protected. Any production in the literary, scientific, and artistic domains, including software source codes, is thus protected under the Berne Convention.