About Bernstein
Leveling the IP playing field through cryptography and blockchain.
Our mission
Bernstein's mission is to democratize IP protection by bringing innovators and creatives the peace of mind that their IP rights are easy to claim and defend, and their inventions and artworks are safely stored.
Our story
Bernstein is a blockchain-powered intellectual property protection platform. Creators, startups, and enterprises use it to certify digital assets with immutable proof of existence, ownership, and integrity — without ever exposing confidential content.
Bernstein was born from Clipperz, the pioneering zero-knowledge password manager created by Marco Barulli in 2007. Clipperz was among the first web applications in the world to perform cryptography entirely inside the browser — years before the W3C WebCrypto API existed and before Stanford's JavaScript Crypto Library became an industry reference. That radical commitment to "the server learns nothing" became the architectural DNA of Bernstein. In late 2016, Marco spun the blockchain notarization features out of Clipperz into a new venture — Bernstein — applying the same zero-knowledge principles to intellectual property protection.
Incorporated in Munich in 2016 and incubated at Wayra, Telefonica's startup accelerator, Bernstein relocated to Strasbourg, France in 2021. The company is operated by IP Leveraged SAS and serves users in over 50 countries.
Our technology
The tools we use to protect your intellectual property.
Strong cryptography
Your files are hashed and encrypted using industry-standard algorithms, ensuring that your intellectual property remains confidential and tamper-proof.
Blockchain technology
The Bitcoin blockchain serves as a public, immutable registry for your timestamps and certificates—valid worldwide and recognized by courts.
Decentralized web
Technologies like IPFS ensure your certified files are safely stored and retrievable, without relying on any single point of failure.
Investors
Bernstein is backed by investors with deep expertise in intellectual property and deep tech.
Arnold Ruess
Düsseldorf — Leading IP litigation boutique, ranked among Germany's top patent law firms by Chambers, JUVE, and IAM Patent 1000.
P&TS
Neuchâtel, Switzerland — IP firm with 30+ engineers and patent attorneys. Winner of the Prix de l'Entreprise Romande.
Motu Ventures
Berlin — Seed-stage deep tech fund specializing in first-round financing of technology companies.
Founding team
A bunch of individuals with diverse backgrounds — Italian, French, French-German — who found common ground in a shared dream of democratizing IP protection around the globe. Probably why they worked so well together.
Marco Barulli
Visionary founder (Italian). Marco created Clipperz — one of the world's first zero-knowledge web applications — before conceiving Bernstein to bring the same principles to IP protection. He led the company from concept to product-market fit before moving on to new ventures.
Paul Reboh
First CTO, now CEO (French). Paul built the technical foundations of Bernstein — the zero-knowledge architecture, triple-layer anchoring system, and the platform used today. He now leads the company's strategy and operations.
Jean-Maxime Riviere
Former Head of Sales (French-German). JM drove Bernstein's early commercial growth, building relationships with law firms, accelerators, and enterprises across Europe. He has since moved on to other projects.
Though their paths have diverged, the three founders remain close friends
— a testament to the shared values that started it all.
Why Bernstein?
Bernstein is the German word for "amber"—tree resin that time, pressure, and temperature transform into gemstones, often preserving organic elements intact for millions of years.
Similarly, Bernstein's web app helps create digital gemstones that preserve and protect your sparks of genius and creativity using strong cryptography, blockchain technology, and the emerging technologies of the decentralized web.
Encryption is a powerful defensive weapon for free people. It is hard to think of a more powerful, less dangerous tool for liberty.
— Esther Dyson, EFF
Connect with us
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