3.3 Form of signature 

A rubber stamp impression of a party's name, whether a natural or legal person, must be accompanied by a personal signature. Initials or other abbreviated forms will not be accepted as a signature. Where the party concerned is a legal person, a document may in general be signed by any person who purports to sign on behalf of that legal person. The entitlement of a person signing on behalf of a legal person is not checked by the EPO, except where there is reason to believe that the person signing is not authorised and in that case evidence of authority to sign should be called for.

Where a document is filed by fax, the reproduction on the facsimile of the signature of the person filing the document will be considered sufficient. The name and position of that person must be clear from the signature (see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 20 February 2019, OJ EPO 2019, A18).

In the case of electronic filing of documents using EPO Online Filing, the signature may take the form of a facsimile signature, a text-string signature or an enhanced electronic signature. Where documents are filed using Online Filing 2.0 or the EPO web-form filing service, the signature may take the form of a facsimile signature or a text-string signature. A facsimile signature is a reproduction of the filing person's signature. A text string signature is a string of characters, preceded and followed by a forward slash (/), selected by the signatory to prove their identity and intent to sign. An enhanced electronic signature is an electronic signature issued or accepted by the EPO (see OJ EPO 2021, A42).

For accepted signatures on electronically filed assignment documents, see E‑XIV, 3.