STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 25, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Stock Exchange-listed company Sign On (Stockholm:SION) has received a positive decision from the U.K. patent office concerning FormPipe, a safe means of transmitting electronically signed documents via the Internet. Sign On's product FormPipe satisfies the requirements for a patent to be granted, namely novelty, inventive step and industrial application.
Sign On now has patents in Sweden and the U.K. and hopes, as a result, to be able to obtain patent rights in most European countries. A patent application has been pending in the USA for almost three years.
"Being granted a patent in a major country such as the U.K. is important, particularly in negotiations with big international companies," said Sign On's MD Bosse Falgard.
Peter Kylin of Hynell Patenttjanst AB said: "As the patent agent handling the application, it is extremely gratifying that the U.K. has confirmed that the Swedish Patent Office's approval of the patent was not a matter of chance. We have also received positive indications from several other countries where a patent has been applied for. Pleasingly, Sign On seems to be on the way to obtaining strong, global patent protection for its FormPipe software."
FormPipe is a system which allows information from many Internet users to be sent, with an electronic signature, via the Internet to a receiving authority, municipality or major company. An electronically signed document now has the same legal status as a traditionally signed paper document.
For further information:
Andreas Halvarsson, vice MD Sign On, tel: +46 (0)8-555 290 07, +46 (0)70-545 95 95, e-mail: andreas.halvarsson@signon.se
Images for free publication are available to download at www.signon.se
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