Electronic Discovery Service

When two or more parties contend that they each own the same intellectual property, identifying the rights to that intellectual property can be a daunting task. Never mind the logistics of proving who wrote certain portions of source code for a software application or who designed specific parts of a piece of hardware. That's tough enough. But where and how do you conduct the fact-finding work in a way that eliminates any tampering with the evidence?

Iron Mountain Intellectual Property Management, Inc. which has been in the business of protecting intellectual property assets since 1982, offers a solution. As a well respected trusted third party, Iron Mountain provides the secure facilities and the technological know-how needed for companies to conduct the difficult task of untangling and examining the intellectual property in question.

Such was the case when Iron Mountain helped two communications companies trying to settle a patent and trade secret infringement case regarding technology that is on the verge of becoming an industry standard in the United States. One company claimed infringement of its patents while the other counterclaimed theft of trade secrets. The court ordered the two companies to find a neutral location where they could maintain the computer on which the source code in question was produced. After several months, the case was recently settled out of court.

Secure Facilities
They needed a secure facility with controlled access that would prohibit visitors from carrying into the secure area laptops, modems, floppy drives or other pieces of hardware. And, of course, no one would be allowed to remove anything from the facility.

"It was hard to find a neutral spot with all of those required elements," said a legal representative from one of the communications companies.

But Iron Mountain has a network of more than 50 secure facilities nationwide that are specifically designed to store proprietary information and electronic data, and are ideal to meet the requirements of an electronic discovery case.

Access to these facilities is guarded, and protection is enhanced with advanced climate control features and state-of-the-art fire suppression systems. They are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These are the same kind of facilities where Iron Mountain stores its technology escrow deposits. No other company has more locations to conduct electronic discovery activities.

The Right Stuff
Also important in selecting a vendor for electronic discovery services is the reputation of the trusted third party.  Iron Mountain, the world's largest provider of technology escrow services, having served more than 20,000 clients - including two-thirds of the Fortune 500 - has the credentials to put clients at ease in sensitive cases like these.

But opposing parties not only need the security of using a well-known trusted third party, they usually need assistance in making what is often an adversarial relationship work. Iron Mountain has proven it is reliable and has the resources to ensure that electronic discovery operations are secure and fair. Iron Mountain employs an in-house staff dedicated to verifying the validity of technology deposits, and it is this kind of experience that Iron Mountain draws upon to assist companies in meeting their electronic discovery requirements.

In addition to secure facilities and technological expertise, electronic discovery clients often need Iron Mountain to benchmark and digitally fingerprint the materials maintained at the neutral site. In these cases, Iron Mountain takes a snapshot of what source code or other intellectual property was contained on the hardware at certain point in time - assuring all parties of the integrity of the materials.

In selecting Iron Mountain for your electronic discovery needs, companies can tap into Iron Mountain's other services that protect intellectual property. If needed, clients can use other Iron Mountain services that benefit from our proprietary escrow management system. This system is what sets Iron Mountain apart from its competitors. It is the industry's most complete technology protection process that provides an audit trail of technology development, notifies parties of account activity, and verifies the completeness of deposits.