S-Signatures (/John Doe/) and the USPTO

May 5, 2006 on 4:14 pm | In The-Practice-of-Law, USPTO |

I swear someone recently told me that you couldn’t use a s-signature with USPTO correspondence.  So much for that theory.  According to Joy Bryant at the NAPP, 37 CFR 1.4(d) was amended to allow for s-signature use [PDF].  See:  37 CFR 1.4(d) which says that:

(i) The S-signature must consist only of letters, or Arabic numerals, or both, with appropriate spaces and commas, periods, apostrophes, or hyphens for punctuation, and the person signing the correspondence must 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./); and

(ii) A registered practitioner, signing pursuant to §§ 1.33(b)(1) or 1.33(b)(2), must supply his/her registration number, either as part of the S-signature, or immediately below or adjacent the S-signature. The number (#) character may only be used as part of the S-signature when appearing before a practitioner’s registration number; otherwise the number character may not be used in an S-signature.

(iii) The signer’s name must be:

(A) Presented in printed or typed form preferably immediately below or adjacent the S-signature, and

(B) Reasonably specific enough so that the identity of the signer can be readily recognized.

So…now you know.

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