Newsletter
PATENT AND IC LAYOUT AP-PLICATIONS EXCLUDED FROM ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE LAW
The Electronic Signature Law (ESL) was an-nounced on 14 November 2001 and took effect on 1 April 2002. Under Article 9 of the ESL, where other legislation requires a signature or seal to be affixed to a document, this may be done by electronic signature with the consent of the concerned parties; but the provisions of such other legislation may be excluded from the ap-plication of the ESL by order of any administra-tive agency. On this basis, the IPO announced on 22 March 2002 that applications related to pat-ents and to integrated circuit layout registration would be excluded from the ESL's application.