Use Case — Intellectual Property
Prove When You Created It — Before Someone Else Claims It
A free, tamper-proof timestamp that establishes prior art for inventions, designs, code, music, and creative works.
The Problem with Proving Creation Dates
Intellectual property disputes often come down to a single question: who can prove they created something first? Whether it's a patentable invention, a software algorithm, a product design, or a piece of music, the party that can establish the earliest verifiable date of creation holds the stronger position. But proving when something was created is far harder than it should be.
File metadata — creation dates, modification timestamps, EXIF data — can be changed in seconds. These fields prove nothing in a dispute because any party can alter them after the fact. Email drafts, cloud storage timestamps, and version control logs are better, but they are still controlled by one party and hosted on systems that could theoretically be manipulated.
Patent filings are the traditional route, but they are expensive and slow. The application process takes months or years, costs thousands in legal and filing fees, and only protects inventions that meet patentability criteria. Design patents, provisional applications, and international filings add further layers of cost and complexity.
Copyright registration protects expression — the specific way an idea is written, drawn, or coded — but it does not establish the date of conception for the underlying idea or invention. And registration itself can take months to process.
What creators and inventors need is a proof of existence document — an independent, permanent, verifiable record of when a file existed in its exact form — something that does not depend on any single company, server, or legal process. The rule is simple: timestamp your work before you share it.
How Timestamping Protects Your Work
At the moment of creation — or at any milestone worth preserving — the file is hashed using SHA-256, producing a unique cryptographic fingerprint. This fingerprint is anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain via OpenTimestamps, creating a permanent public record that cannot be altered or deleted by anyone.
The timestamp proves two things: the file existed at that specific point in time, and it has not been altered since. These two facts together constitute proof of prior art — evidence that your work existed in a particular form before any competing claim.
The proof is tamper-evident by design. If even one byte changes — one edited word, one modified pixel, one reordered line of code — the SHA-256 hash is completely different and verification fails. There is no way to backdate a timestamp or forge a proof after the fact.
The proof is independently verifiable by anyone using open-source tools. No reliance on EverCert, no reliance on any third party. The Bitcoin blockchain itself — maintained by thousands of nodes worldwide — serves as the neutral, immutable witness.
Your file never leaves your device. Only the hash is transmitted. The content of your work remains completely private.
How to Timestamp Your Work
- 1Save your creation in its current form — any file type works (code, design files, manuscripts, recordings, sketches, datasets)
- 2Go to evercert.io and drop the file into the upload area
- 3Download the proof package (PDF certificate + .ots proof file)
- 4Store the proof alongside your original work
- 5Timestamp each new version as your work evolves — build a timeline of creation that documents every major milestone
Who Should Use This
- •Inventors documenting prior art before filing a patent
- •Software developers establishing code authorship
- •Designers and architects protecting original designs
- •Musicians, writers, and artists proving creation dates for creative works
- •Researchers timestamping datasets, findings, and publications
- •Startups documenting trade secrets and proprietary methods
- •The cost is zero and the process takes under 30 seconds
Free. Private. No account required.