fulk@cs.rochester.edu (Mark Fulk) (01/01/70)
I believe the best method is to take a description to a notary (or perhaps two young ones, in case one dies) and have your signature notarized on each page of the description. Leave space for the notary's seal at the bottom, so that no essential details are obscured. Have the notary keep a copy (they usually do anyway), and specify how long you think the information might be important. It might be worth having the notary keep a copy in a sealed envelope to counter claims of fiddling notarial files. My Uncle Paul, a fairly prolific inventor (of teflon-coated bullet fame), makes regular trips to the notary with sheafs of paper. IBM uses an interesting system: you are required to keep notes of your work in special IBM notebooks. At the end of the day, you sign and date all the pages you used that day. These notebooks have been important evidence at patent infringement trials. If you use such a system, get bound books of lined paper, like the green books the government issues. Spiral and loose-leaf books are much less persuasive, for obvious reasons.