Bolsters Intellectual Property Protection, Streamlines "Sign and Witness" Process
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and RESTON, Va., April 20, 2010 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A), and Surety, LLC, the leading provider of data integrity protection solutions, today announced that Agilent has integrated Surety’s AbsoluteProof trusted, third-party timestamping service into its OpenLAB Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN).
AbsoluteProof digitally timestamps research data flowing within the OpenLAB ELN, providing substantial evidentiary support should the authenticity or ownership of timestamped records be legally challenged. A secure digital timestamp (i.e., trusted timestamp) verifiably seals a record, enabling its time and content integrity to be independently proven at any time. Additionally, researcher identity is captured and sealed alongside the content during the collaboration workflow, increasing the defensibility of the overall “sign and witness” process. No other commercially available ELN offers such long-term, scientific intellectual property (IP) protection.
“In the extremely competitive research market, documenting and securing research-based IP is critical for many of our customers,” said Bruce von Herrmann, vice president and general manager, Agilent Software and Informatics. “With the integration of Surety’s AbsoluteProof, our customers will have the ability to seal their IP portfolios and validate the exact date and time of creation, modification and implementation, thereby capturing and protecting their investments in IP.”
“Most traditional ELNs use timestamps from internal server clocks or digital signatures to prove the date and time of intellectual property creation,” added Tom Klaff, CEO of Surety, LLC. “These processes can be vulnerable to tampering, and thus, are not always legally defensible. With Surety’s AbsoluteProof, Agilent recognized an opportunity to incorporate a substantially higher degree of data integrity protection into its applications. AbsoluteProof timestamps are independently provable, provide long-term integrity protection, and don’t require an investment in heavyweight infrastructure. This translates into a significant cost savings for customers.”
“The accelerating pace of ELN adoption across the R&D landscape is helping organizations improve collaboration, data accessibility and knowledge retention,” said Michael Elliott, CEO of scientific consulting firm Atrium Research & Consulting LLC. “However, many of those deploying ELNs give insufficient attention to data authentication and integrity controls -- which are essential for successful patent defense. By building supportable controls directly into the ELN workflow, organizations can minimize the risks associated with the migration to an electronic research environment without having to custom integrate discrete technologies.”
Agilent OpenLAB ELN is a high-productivity alternative to traditional paper lab notebooks. OpenLAB ELN provides scientists with a scalable, integrated platform for creating, capturing, managing and sharing information in an increasingly complex global environment. The open-architecture, customizable solution facilitates multi-discipline interaction, simplifies and accelerates R&D discovery, and streamlines data management, all within a robust framework that protects valuable intellectual property.
About Surety, LLC
Founded in 1994 by leading Bellcore Scientists, Surety is a leading thirdparty, trusted timestamp authority in the bio-pharma and R&D markets. With millions of research-oriented electronic records and files worldwide protected under its authenticity Seal, the company’s flagship service offering AbsoluteProof® enables organizations to meet the legal, fiduciary and regulatory responsibilities associated with creating, managing and archiving electronic records, files and data by providing legally-defensible evidence of data integrity and authenticity. AbsoluteProof ensures against content tampering by providing a “digital wax seal” for all types of electronicallystored content. The company’s client base is made up of R&D-heavy pharmaceutical and bio-technology companies, legal and financial services firms, healthcare organizations, Cloud-computing service providers and copyright protection agencies that are ensuring record integrity with AbsoluteProof. For more information, visit www.surety.com.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world’s premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company’s 16,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $4.5 billion in fiscal 2009. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.
Download the PDF version of "Agilent Technologies Integrates Surety’s AbsoluteProof Service into OpenLAB Electronic Lab Notebook, Enhances Data Integrity, Protection" >>