Legal Definitions - facsimile signature

A facsimile signature is a reproduction of an original, handwritten signature. Instead of being physically written with a pen, it is created using mechanical or electronic means, such as a stamp, a printed image, or a digital scan. While not an original "wet-ink" signature, it often carries the same legal weight and intent to authenticate a document, especially in situations where numerous documents require a signature or when the signatory is not physically present to sign.

Here are some examples:

• Imagine a university president who needs to sign thousands of diplomas for graduating students each year. Instead of physically signing each individual diploma, the university uses a pre-printed version of the president's signature on all the certificates. This allows for efficient processing of a large volume of official documents.

  This illustrates a facsimile signature because a reproduced image of the president's actual signature is used on multiple documents, rather than a unique, handwritten signature on each one.

• Consider a large corporation where the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) must approve hundreds of routine expense reports and internal memos weekly. To streamline this process, the CFO authorizes the use of a rubber stamp bearing their signature for these specific types of internal documents. This ensures quick approval without requiring the CFO to personally sign every single piece of paper.

  This demonstrates a facsimile signature as a physical stamp creates a copy of the CFO's signature, serving as an authorized mark of approval without the need for a handwritten signature each time.

• An attorney is preparing to file a legal brief with the court electronically. The court's rules permit the submission of documents with a digital image of the attorney's signature. The attorney scans their handwritten signature once and then embeds this image into the PDF version of the brief before uploading it to the court's online portal.

  This is an example of a facsimile signature because a digital reproduction of the attorney's original signature is used to authenticate the electronic document, fulfilling the signature requirement without a physical pen-and-paper signing.