Documentation

What is Hash 34?

Hash 34 is a digital "vault" that lets startup founders cryptographically lock and timestamp their startup name, logo, idea and founder identity — creating tamper-proof evidence of prior use under Section 34 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

SHA-256 Sealing

Every submission is canonicalised to a deterministic JSON form, then hashed with SHA-256. The same input always produces the same hash — and changing even one character changes the hash entirely.

HMAC Signature

On top of the hash, our server adds an HMAC-SHA256 digital signature using a private key only Hash 34 holds. This proves the record came from us at the recorded time.

Government Verification

Mandatory MSME / Udyam registration (free from the Government of India) and optional masked Aadhaar establish a legally meaningful identity link.

Public Certificate

Each sealed submission gets a downloadable PDF certificate, an embeddable badge, and a public verification page anyone can use to confirm authenticity.

How a submission works

1
Create your account
Sign up with email and password. Verify your email through the free verification link we send you. Complete the human-check (captcha) — no third-party trackers.
2
Fill the lock-in form
Enter your startup name, idea, founder details, parents' names, MSME number and (optionally) upload your logo and a masked Aadhaar. Be precise — this content is what gets sealed forever.
3
Cryptographic sealing
We canonicalise your data, compute the SHA-256 hash, sign it with our private key, and write the hash, signature and timestamp to an immutable database row. A PostgreSQL trigger physically blocks any future edits to the core fields.
4
Receive your certificate
You instantly get a Certificate of Cryptographic Sealing — a PDF, an embeddable badge for your website / LinkedIn / Twitter, and a public verification URL.
5
Admin verification (optional layer)
Our verification officers manually review your MSME and Aadhaar to mark your record as Verified — adding an additional trust layer admissible as supporting evidence.

What Hash 34 is — and what it isn't

What it IS

A tamper-proof digital notary for your startup identity.
Evidentiary support for "prior use" claims under common law.
A free first submission for every new founder.
A platform built on Indian DPDP Act, 2023 principles.

What it is NOT

A government registry — we do not grant ® trademarks.
A law firm — we do not provide legal advice.
A guarantee of any specific legal outcome.
A substitute for filing with CGPDTM (ipindia.gov.in).

Security model

Immutable storage: A database trigger physically rejects any UPDATE that touches the sealed fields — even a database administrator cannot alter your record.
Anti-bot rate limits: Submissions are limited per user and per IP to block automated abuse from free attack tools.
Private document storage: MSME, Aadhaar and logo files live in a private storage bucket — only you and verified admins can read them.
Row-level security: You can only ever read your own submissions. Admins can read all, but cannot modify sealed content.

Legal standing & evidentiary value

If a government authority, court, lawyer, opposing party or investor asks you to prove your prior use of a name, logo or idea, this is exactly what you hand them and exactly which laws make it admissible in India.

The 3-part evidence bundle you provide

The Certificate PDF

Downloaded from your dashboard. Human-readable summary showing startup name, founder, sealed timestamp, SHA-256 hash, HMAC signature and certificate ID. This is the cover page of your evidence.

The Public Verify URL

Anyone — judge, lawyer, government officer — can open /verify/{id} on any device and independently see the same hash, signature and timestamp pulled live from our database. Proves the record exists on our servers and was not fabricated.

Source Files + Canonical Payload

Your original documents (MSME, masked Aadhaar, concept) plus the canonical JSON stored in our DB. Anyone can re-run SHA-256 on that JSON and must get the exact same hash — mathematical proof nothing has been altered since the sealed timestamp.

Why Indian law accepts this

What the law requires	What Hash 34 provides
Electronic record with verifiable timestamp — IT Act, 2000 §§ 3, 4	signed_at + HMAC-SHA256 signature
Hash function proving content integrity — IT Act, 2000 § 3(2)	SHA-256 content_hash
Independent third-party custodian (not the claimant)	Hash 34 servers + public /verify URL
Section 65B certificate — Indian Evidence Act, 1872	Downloadable PDF + admin verification stamp
Prior use of a mark — Trade Marks Act, 1999 § 34	Sealed timestamp predating any later registrant

Where this evidence is most valuable

Trademark opposition (Form TM-O)
Filed at IP India to block someone else's registration of your name. Hash 34's sealed date acts as documentary proof of prior use.
Copyright disputes
Your sealed concept document predates a copycat's — the hash proves your version existed unchanged from day one.
Investor & co-founder disputes
Cryptographic proof of who conceived what, and when. Useful in cap-table fights and stolen-idea claims.
Idea-theft / passing-off cases
Section 27(2) of the Trade Marks Act protects unregistered prior users — Hash 34 gives you the timestamp evidence you need.

Honest disclaimer — please read

Hash 34 is prior-art / first-use evidence. It proves that a specific piece of content existed in a specific form on a specific date, held by an independent third party. It is not a trademark registration, copyright registration, or patent grant. Those require formal filing with:

Trademarks: Registrar of Trade Marks (IP India), Form TM-A — approx ₹4,500–9,000 per class
Copyright: Copyright Office, Form XIV — approx ₹500–5,000
Patents: Indian Patent Office, Form 1 + Form 2

Hash 34 strengthens any of those filings by giving you provable prior-use evidence — but it does not replace them. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice; consult a registered IP attorney for case-specific guidance.

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