We’re pleased to announce a collaboration between Lition and the renowned German law firm Schürmann Rosenthal Dreyer (SRD). SRD is internationally recognized and has already received numerous awards from Best Lawyers and HANDELSBLATT, Kanzleimonitor and The Legal 500. Both parties have been working together in order to deploy Lition’s Proof of Existence use case for SRD’s clients.

Customers will now be able to have their most important information reliably protected in a confidential and tamper-proof manner by one of the leading legal firms in Germany, using Lition’s blockchain technology.

Furthermore, SRD is committed to explore blockchain technology in additional commercial scenarios together with Lition’s technology and expertise:

“Blockchain technology is unknown to many. It stands between high expectations on the one hand and great skepticism on the other. We want to make blockchain’s undeniable benefits of security, trust and lower costs available to our customers.” — Schürmann Rosenthal Dreyer

Proof of Existence powered by Lition

SRD’s Proof of Existence Portal

Business ideas, trade secrets, and standard operating procedures are a key asset for every company. Customers can use Schürmann Rosenthal Dreyer to protect themselves from the risks of industrial espionage or data leaks and to legally document that they are rightfully business secrets of a company. Legal certificates are provided so customers can prove they were in possession of the trade secret at a certain point in time.

By leveraging blockchain technology and only keeping the hash value in the contract, customers can effectively use the trade secret in contractual relationships with business partners, employees, and other parties, preventing any attempt to manipulate data and change the content of contracts and documents. That leads to a competitive advantage as there isn’t anymore the need of an expensive notary as supervisor among the actors involved.

How does this work exactly?

After connecting to the dedicated website through the browser plug-in Metamask, participants can upload certificates. The documents are cryptographically hashed and validated by thousands of decentralized servers spread across the internet. This is exactly where blockchain technology adds value to the system and cuts out useless third-party trustees. From a technical standpoint, the software creates a unique identifier of the certificate, called a hash. A hash is impossible to replicate and it is proven that the process cannot be reverse engineered. This eliminates any opportunity to compromise data starting from the hash, which makes it secure from a privacy perspective.

This puts the certificate holder in a position where they can mathematically prove they are the owner of the document to whoever requests so. Clients do not need to spend time in order to contact the certificate-issuing company, SRD, to verify the validity of documentation. Instead, it is enough to connect to use the solution in order to prove the existence of the document.

Most importantly, the private data rights will always be fulfilled to the highest possible GDPR standards. As Schürmann Rosenthal Dreyer is nationally recognized for their work in data protection law.

Future Use Cases for SRD

Copyright and IP rights

Schürmann Rosenthal Dreyer will provide customers with the ability to use blockchain technology to secure and effectively prove in and out of court that someone is the legal author or owner of an IP right. Customers can document their complete product development on the blockchain from the first step to the last step so that the legal elements can be tracked at any given point. This offers an innovative and effective solution to protect ideas and inventions against manipulation.

On request, the firm will also help customers to enforce rights quickly and efficiently by programming and legally reviewing smart contracts tailored to customers’ needs. Smart contracts can be utilized in the verification and granting/blocking of license and usage rights as part of online sales of music, films or other media.

Due Diligence

Due diligence is crucial to ensure that all contractual bases are correct and there are no hidden risks. This allows business customers to maintain control and close their deals successfully. SRD will provide blockchain services for the compilation of all information about the legal, tax and economic conditions of the object of purchase, in which the data is tamper-proof and legally secured with a timestamp.