Services / IP Audit Trail

A neutral, dated audit trail for your IP

Periodic deposits with EscrowTech create a chronological, independently corroborated record of your inventions, software, trade secrets, and confidential information — preparation that often makes or breaks legal battles.

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Why an audit trail

Preparation often makes or breaks legal battles

Most evidence without independent support can be picked apart or marginalized. EscrowTech serves as a trusted neutral that dates, stores, and corroborates Deposit Materials — providing credible evidence that may be determinative in litigation, settlement negotiations, mediation, or arbitration.

A company with the foresight to use this service is at a significant advantage over a challenger who failed to prepare. Periodic deposits also discipline your team to better document IP — something that's often neglected without a formal program.

Don't leave yourself unprotected. By the time you need the record, it's too late to create one.

Neutral, dated audit trail

A chronological record of invention, development, creation, modification, addition, and deletion of materials.

Establishes & verifies rights

Patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and confidential information — independently corroborated by a trusted third party.

Litigation-ready evidence

Credible, dated materials that can be the difference between winning and losing a dispute.

Defines agreement subject matter

Documents and freezes the IP referenced in development, license, and settlement agreements.

What you deposit

Almost any form of IP or evidence

Deposit Materials may include virtually anything that represents or embodies your intellectual property, technology, trade secrets, inventions, data, or other rights.

Documents & notebooks

Invention disclosures

Source code & listings

Databases & data

Encryption keys

Passwords

Samples & prototypes

Works of authorship

Also accepted: drawings, web site content, CD-ROMs, devices, products, and almost any other items that document or embody your rights.
How it works

How an IP Audit Trail works

You decide the cadence — monthly, quarterly, annually, or one-time — with interim deposits whenever a key development requires it.

  1. 01

    Establish a depository

    Owner sets up an Audit Trail account with EscrowTech and selects a deposit cadence.

  2. 02

    Deposit materials

    Submit Deposit Materials in duplicate — periodic deposits cover new inventions, improvements, and changes.

  3. 03

    Date & corroborate

    EscrowTech dates and confirms receipt, independently corroborating existence and content as of that date.

  4. 04

    Two-site secure storage

    One set in our Perpetual Storage Vault, the other on-site — both with security guards, cameras, and fire suppression.

  5. 05

    Inspect, release, or testify

    EscrowTech provides originals or copies on demand and will testify to the integrity of the trail in any dispute.

Cadence is your call

Monthly, quarterly, or annual deposits — whatever fits. A key development or special circumstance may justify an interim deposit at any time. Frequency affects your annual fee.

Two-site storage

All Deposit Materials are provided in duplicate. One set lives in our Perpetual Storage Vault, the other in EscrowTech's dedicated on-site facility — both with guards, cameras, and fire suppression.

Real-world applications

Where an Audit Trail changes the outcome

Patent rights

Corroborate conception of the invention and actual reduction to practice — critical when competing inventors claim first rights.

Trade secrets

Establish that proprietary information, data, or technology was in your possession prior to a key date or event.

NDA disclosure (you disclosing)

Prove the confidential information you disclosed was in your possession beforehand and satisfies writing/marking requirements.

NDA receipt (you receiving)

Prove information was already known to you prior to disclosure — defeating unintended confidentiality obligations.

Copyrights & software

Document complete source code corresponding to your registration — without forfeiting trade-secret protection at the Copyright Office.

Rogue employee scenarios

When key employees leave and start a competitor, dated deposits prove inventions, trade secrets, and software predate their departure.

EscrowTech will testify

When called upon, EscrowTech produces dated Deposit Materials and testifies to the procedures, protections, confidentiality, security, and credibility of the IP Audit Trail Service — at every stage of settlement, mediation, arbitration, or litigation.

IP Audit Trail fees

Transparent pricing, locked for 3 years

The cost of an audit trail is minuscule compared to the cost of litigating without one.

Basic IP Audit Trail
$1,595/year

Per account

  • $995 one-time setup fee
  • Includes 2 cu. ft. of vault storage
  • Fees locked for the first three years
  • First-year satisfaction guarantee — full refund if not satisfied
Annual Fee (per account)
$1,595/year
One-time Setup Fee
$995
Inspection
$295+ $125/hr for EscrowTech rep
Release of Deposit Materials
$295per release
Extra Deposits
$90each, beyond annual allotment
Excess Storage
$70per cu. ft. /yr beyond 2 cu. ft.

Excess Storage Charge applies only beyond the 2 cu. ft. included with your account.

Build the record before you need it

Start your IP Audit Trail today — and have credible, dated evidence ready the day a dispute arrives.

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