INDUSTRIAL  ESCROW eDISCOVERY & CYBERFORENSICS DATA  ESCROW

SaaS

   INVESTOR  ESCROW

SOFTWARE  ESCROW

ASP/ BPO  ESCROW



Source Code Escrow

First German Escrow (FGE), a worldwide and independent working Intellectual Property Escrow Agent protects your intellectual property, mission critical material, source codes, high technologies and licensed software applications with validated deposits.

Software Escrow means deposit of the source code of the software into an account held by a third party escrow agent. Escrow is typically requested by a party licensing software (the licensee), to ensure maintenance of the software. The software source code is released to the licensee if the licensor files for bankruptcy or otherwise fails to maintain and update the software as promised in the software license agreement.

The relationsship between the licensor and licensee strengthens when an escrow agreement is signed. It symbolizes the licensor`s commitment to the licensee`s need for uninterrupted support.

First German Escrow provides intellectual property protection for software developers (licensors) and business continuity assurance for licensees by placing a verified copy of source code into an escrow account. Under specific conditions described in an escrow agreement the licensee is able to access the source code, thus mantaining mission critical applications, without harming the intellectual property rights of the licensor. This gives everybody considerable peace of mind.

First German Escrow stands out from other escrow agents because it does not only concentrate on active escrow, but as well looks out for the needs of various licensors, who do not and never wish to lay out their "top secrets" to a third party. We offer the solution. There are three steps to create a deposit with FGE:

Step One:                 Honor Declaration

Step Two:                      Signing the contract

For the first deposit First German Escrow comes into contact with the licensor and the licensee to prepare a draft of a so called "Honor Declaration".

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The licensee and the licensor  sign the relevant Escrow Agreement in three duplicates and send it by mail to First German Escrow. FGE signs at last and sends back one original to each of the parties.
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Step Three:                      Verification

Who is standing behind ?

First German Escrow comes to the Licensor's office (except if otherwise agreed due to the distance of the Licensor's location or other reason) to receive the deposit by hand and to receive the Honor Declaration, signed by a responsible individual of the licensor that indeed the source materials stored with First German Escrow are complete and authentic. 
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First German Escrow is located in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Founded by experienced international account manager Norbert Ritz, who worked for a leading Escrow Agent in Europe.  The manager has more than eight years of experience in the Global Software Escrow market. 

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Documents and other products and information

Repositorium  Configuration- Management- Repository

Digital Timestamp Fingerprinting a file prove that your idea belongs to you

Contracts  contracts in German, English and French language

Verification
verification or validation of the deposit

Honor Declaration
a sample of an honor declaration 

Deposit Certificate
Prescribing a sample of a deposit certificate

References
List of clients

Sample Active Escrow Report  Files and development Statistics

Trust & Concerns Is source code released from escrow usable?

Related Websites 

 
Recommended Reading

Book: A Record

How does an escrow agreement meet its legal obligation in Germany...

Read more about software escrow.