Electronic Signatures and Patent Rights

From Quarles & Brady LLP:

As companies, research institutions, and universities continue to move to work-from-home situations (or are required to do so) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may become slower or more cumbersome to obtain signatures for formal documents needed to pursue, prosecute, and license patent rights. This is especially problematic in the United States, as the USPTO has indicated that it will not relax existing deadline requirements, unlike some of its foreign counterparts. However, IP owners are reminded that USPTO rules, as well as U.S. Federal and most state laws, allow for electronic execution of documents and the use of scanned or other electronic copies of executed documents. Read more.

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