By Donald Zuhn --
On August 20, 2007, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that patent examiners, other Office employees, and contractors under the Commissioner of Patents may begin using an S-signature (i.e., an electronic signature) to sign papers related to applications, patents, or reexamination proceedings. The requirements for using an S-signature are set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 1.4(d)(2), which specifies that a person signing correspondence insert his or her own S-signature with a first single forward slash mark before, and a second single forward slash mark after, the S-signature (e.g., /Dr. James T. Jones, Jr./). To comply with Rule 1.4(d)(2), the signer must also provide his or her name (i.e., without the forward slashes) and registration number (if the signer is acting in a representative capacity). The requirements for electronic signatures for Patent Office personnel are similar to the rules set forth for practitioners in Rule 1.4(d)(2), except that Patent Office personnel will be allowed to use electronic initials or an electronic signature, and will be required to provide their official job title in place of a registration number.
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