About us and the platform Proofbox
We enable fast, recognized and discreet defensive publishing - without attracting attention!
Born out of necessity. Built with precision.
Strategize, not Oversize your IP-Budget: Based on this guiding principle and against the backdrop of ubiquitously available AI language models, we believe in an acceleration of the IP industry. To meet this acceleration and the future diversifiability of companies, strategic IP management is required. This includes defensive publications.
However, existing providers of this service are connected to a public archive that enables unrestricted competitor monitoring. This is not necessarily desired by inventors and companies seeking a recognized defensive publication without unwanted exposure.
This desire for a discreet defensive publication is fulfilled by Proofbox as the first provider.
The Problem
There was no tool and no platform to publish in a recognized and discreet manner without uncontrolled dissemination simultaneously.
That's when the idea for Proofbox was born: a privacy-first, recognized online archive designed exclusively for digital defensive disclosures without unwanted exposure.
Our unique approach closes this critical gap
...by providing innovators and IP specialists with a trusted and discreet alternative that respects confidentiality and fulfills formal requirements.
The Solution
Therefore, our online-only archive is unique.
We've developed a dedicated mechanism to ensure the permanent discoverability and availability of every defensive publication, without relying on external public databases such as the WIPO.
The complete contents of a disclosure are additionally located behind a paywall.
Proofbox thus has a prior art archive that makes automated competitor monitoring impossible.
We are proudly independent
Proofbox is bootstrapped and fully self-funded.
Instead of seeking outside investment, we're committed to building a sustainable business, powered by the value we create for our users.
This independence gives us full control over product decisions, ensures user interests remain our top priority, and allows us to grow in a healthy, focused way.
We are small and move fast
We're a lean, cross-functional team of engineers, patent law-trained experts and creators.
Our small size is our superpower: we work fast, stay close to our users, and iterate without friction. Every feature we ship is guided by deep insight and a strong commitment to privacy and transparency.
Proofbox may be a small player in the legal tech landscape, but our infrastructure, security, and service quality meet the highest industry standards.
Our Vision
The development and description of technical innovations is being dramatically accelerated by the use of large language models (LLM): Prior art research, the drafting of technical texts, and the identification of new solution approaches can now be carried out more efficiently than ever before. At the same time, the examination and granting of intellectual property rights remains a time-consuming and costly process; all of these trends, combined with the need to optimize IP spending.
Proofbox bridges the resulting gaps between rapid innovation, delayed IP protection and the desire for lean preservation of your space to innovate.
The platform enables discreet, recognized, and immediate publication of technical content – either as a defensive disclosure or as a strategic post-publication directly after filing a patent application or by cascaded disclosures.
In doing so, Proofbox helps innovators to preserve their developments in terms of Freedom-To-Operate and fosters transparency in the state of the art.
Our Mission
Proofbox aims to modernize the defensive publication of technical inventions in accordance with current legal frameworks. This is what makes a discreet publication possible in the first place.
Through immediate and discreet disclosure, our platform prevents third parties from subsequently obtaining commercial property rights for identical or technically equivalent content. In this way, Proofbox supports companies in focusing on their actual development work and core business.
In particular, our platform offers an efficient and cost-effective solution for the documentation and strategic support of the freedom-to-operate of inventions with low or uncertain value, thus helping to conserve resources.