Technology Escrow: Help ensure proper intellectual property protection for your clients

The importance of protecting intellectual property today cannot be overstated. Companies worldwide spend billions of dollars a year on licensing technology. Leading research firms estimate that intangible assets, such as intellectual property, now account for the bulk of corporate worth.

At Iron Mountain, we take intellectual property protection seriously and deliver our services with the integrity you and your clients would expect – and, in fact, demand, from a trusted and neutral third party. We don't just vault technology. We provide complete intellectual property management services.

Security for Technology Users

Technology licensees are dependent on their vendors for support and maintenance of their technology. They are exposed to risks if the vendor goes out of business or stops supporting the technology for other reasons.

An escrow account with Iron Mountain protects licensees by allowing them to gain access to their vendor's source code under specific conditions outlined in the escrow contract. With an escrow contract in place, licensees have the opportunity to maintain that technology without vendor support while planning how to replace it.

Protection for Technology Developers

Technology developers can appreciate the benefits of technology escrow protection, too. As a neutral third party, Iron Mountain dates and time-stamps all materials deposited into escrow. This creates an audit trail of the development of technology and provides independent validation of the ownership of the related intellectual property.

Iron Mountain has no vested interest in defending one party over another and, therefore, has the trust of the courts to vouch for the existence and ownership of all types of intellectual property that your clients may want to protect.

Services to Meet Individual Needs

Iron Mountain provides various levels of escrow protection to meet unique requirements. Three-party relationships – signed by Iron Mountain, the technology developer (depositor) and the licensee (beneficiary) – offer the highest level of escrow protection for all parties. Two-party relationships – signed by only the depositor and Iron Mountain – provide a basic level of escrow protection.