DESC:FIELD OF INVENTION:
The present invention relates to electronic signing of electronic documents. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method of electronic signature with legal assistance.
BACKGROUND:
Electronic documents form an integral part of today’s business world. In a business scenario, these electronic documents can be crucial documents such as agreements, contracts, tax documents, legal documents to name a few. Such documents typically require a number of people to sign them in order to be validated.
Traditionally, such important business documents were shared and exchanged between all the signatories involved in the document in order for them to sign the documents physically. This made the document exchange and signing a very cumbersome and time consuming process. In order to overcome this problem, the concept of electronic signatures was introduced a few years back. Electronic signatures make the electronic document signing process very user friendly, secure, convenient, easily accessible and less time consuming.
There are different types of electronic signatures (e-signatures) available generally for the users for signing the electronic documents. All the countries and geographical locations in the world have specific legal requirements as to which type of signature is allowed and binding in that particular region. The three main types of electronic signatures are : Simple electronic signature (SES)- For everyday transactions, Advanced electronic signature (AES): For high-value transactions and Qualified electronic signature (QES): For highly regulated transactions.

Simple electronic signature (SES) is the most basic electronic signature available. It does not require strong signer authentication or ID verification. For transactions that can use this type of signature, it is enough to know the signer’s email address, or that they received a unique access code before signing. This type of signature does not require the creation of additional data to verify ID. An example of a use for a simple electronic signature could be a day-to-day sales and procurement agreement or the creation of a simple form that needs signing.
Advanced electronic signature (AES) includes additional user authentication steps: a signer will be asked to produce and use a valid document to confirm their identity, as well as a unique access code after the signing process. Advanced signatures also require a digital certificate to be generated and attached to the envelope as part of this transaction. Because of these additional features, AES accomplish two very important things: They reliably identify the signer and they establish a unique link between the signature and the signer.
Employment offer letters are an example of a use case for AES: a candidate goes through in-person interviews and is chosen for the role. The HR team prepares a formal offer letter for their future employee, who can sign it electronically after receiving a PIN via text message. Then, the eSignature platform asks them to take a photograph of their driving licence with their smartphone to confirm their identity. The platform provides AES signatures for this use case, including the ID verification step.
Qualified electronic signature (QES) are capable of fulfilling the same objectives as physical witnessing and attestation. A QES offers the highest level of trust through a face-to-face ID verification process by a Qualified Trust Service Provider and the resulting digital certificate created with an electronic signature device. A QES is likely to be more reliable than a signature witnessed in an unsupervised environment. A QES is also considered the legal equivalent of a wet/physical signature in some countries.
A few electronic signature platforms have emerged in the past few years which facilitate the process of electronic signing of the electronic documents. However, these platforms have their own limitations. For instance, in most of the electronic signature platforms currently available in the market, there are no modules to read the document and suggest user as to which electronic signature type, whether SES, AES OR QES needs to be used. Currently the user needs to check offline with their legal attorney/ suitable agency and then enable the right signature type. There is lot of dependencies on offline research work which delays the electronic signature process and moreover if the opinion or offline research is not correct it results into applying wrong signature type to the document. The above listed drawbacks of the existing platforms hamper their utility, efficiency and user-friendliness. Hence, there is a need for a system and a method which primarily addresses the limitations discussed above and provides a technical solution to the above problems.
DEFINITIONS:
For the purpose of the present invention, the various terms used throughout the invention are defined as follows:
The expression “document” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but is not limited to an electronic document including e- contracts, commercial contracts, customer contracts, vendor contracts, Non-disclosure agreements, etc in a computer readable format.
The expression “user” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but is not limited to the individual/ natural entity that may be the creator of the document, sender of the document, any recipient of the document or any signer of the document.
The expression “signature” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but is not limited to an electronic signature that is applied using an electronic device such as a computer, mobile devices, smart cards, and the like; to authenticate the signatory and certify the integrity of the document.
The expression “sender” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but is not limited to the person who is the originator of the document i.e. the person who sends the document to be electronically signed to the signer, defines the signing workflow and also decides the method to be used for signing the document/s.
The expression “signer” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but is not limited to any person who is required to check the details and particulars mentioned in a document and is authorized to sign the documents for providing approval or validating the documents; and may include but not limited to; a manager or a senior executive so to say.
The expression “input device” and “ output device” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but not limited to a computer system, a mobile device, a user interface, screens, servers like hosting servers and more; that enable access to any centralized resource, system, or service within a network.
The expression “metadata” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but is not limited to collective information about multiple databases related to different fields; such as entity based, business unit based, contract types including and not limited to - vendor contracts, customer contracts, partner contracts, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), value-based contracts and any additional user specific data; where such metadata is used to segregate a large number of documents into relevant groups for ease in the signing of large numbers documents.
The expression “workflow” used hereinafter in this specification refers to, but is not limited to a stepwise method to be performed for obtaining a specific output using a defined system.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION:
An object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for electronic signing of electronic documents.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing legal assistance for electronic signature.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for recommending the type of electronic signature allowed or valid according to the legal requirements of a particular country or region.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention discloses a system and method of electronic signature with legal assistance. The system comprising of a user communication device, user interface, a set of computer readable instructions which can be provided by the user by means of the said communication interface, a processing unit operably associated with the each of the said communication devices and adapted to execute the said instructions provided by the user and a computer readable memory storage medium capable of storing the said instructions provided by the user and a document to be signed electronically.
According to an aspect of the invention, the system comprises of extraction and processing module and an inbuilt database consisting of country specific laws in a structured manner that includes information related to the countries and whether that country under its legal structure, allows at least one from the Simple electronic signature (SES), Advanced electronic signature (AES) and Qualified electronic signature (QES), and the system assists in deciding the signature type by mapping the country with the database. The system also assists in the requirement of stamping by certificate service providers depending on the country.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
Before the present invention is described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to methodologies described, as these may vary as per the person skilled in the art. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps. The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the invention to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results. Various embodiments of the present invention are described below. It is, however noted that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but rather the intention is that modifications those are apparent are also included.
The present invention is related to a system and method of electronic signature with legal assistance. The different countries and regions in the world have their respective laws in place that recognise a certain type of electronic signature on documents as valid or approved. As mentioned above, there are three types of electronic signatures: Simple electronic signature (SES)- For everyday transactions, Advanced electronic signature (AES): For high-value transactions and Qualified electronic signature (QES): For highly regulated transactions. All these three signature types may be available in the system itself for the user/signer.
The system comprises of input and output devices including but not limited to a user communication device such as computer system or a mobile device, user interface, a set of computer readable instructions which can be provided by the user by means of the said communication interface, a processing unit operably associated with the each of the said communication devices and adapted to execute the said instructions provided by the user and a computer readable memory storage medium capable of storing the said instructions provided by the user. The system also comprises of an inbuilt database and more specifically a database consisting of country specific laws in a structured manner that includes information related to the countries and whether that country under its legal structure, allows at least one from the Simple electronic signature (SES), Advanced electronic signature (AES), Qualified electronic signature (QES) or all three signatures are valid. The system further comprises of an extraction and processing module.
In the given embodiment of the present invention, the method of providing legal assistance to the user of the electronic signature comprises the steps of :
• Uploading a document to be signed withing the system for electronic signature
• Extraction and processing module of the system determines and reads the address available in the first couple of paragraphs of the document to assess the country or the region of the parties present in the document.
• This module further maps the country or region identified from the document in the database and suggests the type of electronic signature that is valid or approved in that specific country or region.
• Based on the suggestion, the system presents the user with the correct allowed signature type and the user can change the decided signature type to match with the suggestion.
• Further, based on database mapping , the system also suggest whether the document needs to be additionally stamped by certificate service provider as per the country specific requirements.
In the given embodiment of the present invention, in case of a contract document, once the contract document is uploaded within the system for electronic signature, the extraction and processing module of the system reads the addresses of the signers or parties available in the first couple of paragraphs of the contract document to determine the country or the region of the signers. The module in the system then extracts meta data fields as party’s region/country. Based on the extracted meta data field as party’s region/country, the module then maps the country or the region with the inbuilt database in the system that contains information related to the electronic signature laws of different countries. Based on the mapping, the module further suggest whether SES (Simple electronic signature) is required or AES (Advanced electronic signature) is required or QES-qualified electronic signature is required in that specific region or country. In one case scenario, if the user or sender has already selected SES (Simple electronic signature) but after mapping with the database, the law require AES (Advanced electronic signature), then the module of the system flips the signature type within the system from SES (Simple electronic signature) to AES (Advanced electronic signature) and sends an error message to user/sender for approval. This change in the type of signature needs to be actioned by the user/sender. The user/sender may either approve by providing comment or may reject the change with reasons. If the user/sender still actions back to SES (Simple electronic signature) with reasons, then the system may accept the signature type and process ahead.
In the given embodiments, in the scenario where there are two different regions/ countries mentioned in the first couple of paragraphs of the document to be signed, then the system has an inbuild logical flow to read the jurisdictional clause of the document and within this clause it may extract the region/country mentioned in that jurisdictional clause and suggests the user/signer/sender that region is that particular country. Accordingly, the system suggests the applicable type of electronic signature for that country.
In the given embodiment of the present invention, the inbuilt database of the system consists of database of country specific laws in a structured manner. This may include information related to the countries and the type of electronic signature is allowed or valid by law in that country. The table below is a list of few countries and the type of electronic signature acceptable or valid in those countries.
Country Electronic signature types
USA SES, AES
Australia SES, AES, QES
UK SES, AES, QES
New Zealand SES
Singapore SES, AES, QES
Malaysia SES, QES
Philippines SES, QES
India SES, QES
Germany SES, AES, QES
Netherlands SES, AES, QES
Switzerland SES, AES, QES
France SES, AES, QES
Sweden SES, AES, QES
Belgium SES, AES, QES
Italy SES, AES, QES
Spain SES, AES, QES
Denmark SES, AES, QES
Finland SES, AES, QES
For example, as per the above table, when the country Malaysia is mapped in the database, the system will suggest both the SES and QES to the user.
In the given embodiment of the present invention, in certain countries, (for example-Mexico) the electronically signed documents may be further required to be digitally stamped by certificate service providers with legal regulations. If the electronically signed document based on database mapping requires to be further stamped digitally through certificate service provider, then the system suggests the user/sender the same and once the user accepts the suggestion, the option for digitally stamping the document through certificate service provider is enabled/activated and the documents get digitally stamped within the system.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the specific elements of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many alterations can be made and that many modifications can be made in preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.
,CLAIMS:We claim,
1. A system and method of electronic signature with legal assistance comprising of a user communication device, user interface, a set of computer readable instructions which can be provided by the user by means of the said communication interface, a processing unit operably associated with the each of the said communication devices and adapted to execute the said instructions provided by the user and a computer readable memory storage medium capable of storing the said instructions provided by the user, a document to be signed electronically,
characterized in that,
the said system comprises of extraction and processing module and an inbuilt database consisting of country specific laws in a structured manner that includes information related to the countries and whether that country under its legal structure, allows at least one from the Simple electronic signature (SES), Advanced electronic signature (AES) and Qualified electronic signature (QES), and the system assists in deciding the signature type by mapping the country with the database, and
the said system also assists in the requirement of stamping by certificate service providers depending on the country.

2. The system and method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method of providing legal assistance to the user of the electronic signature comprises the steps of :
a. uploading a document to be signed withing the system for electronic signature,
b. extracting address available in the first couple of paragraphs of the document to assess the country or the region of the parties present in the document by the extraction and processing module of the system ,
c. mapping the country or region identified from the document in the database and suggesting the type of electronic signature that is valid or approved in that specific country or region,
d. presenting the user with the correct allowed signature type and the user can change the decided signature type to match with the suggestion, and
e. suggesting whether the document needs to be additionally stamped by certificate service provider as per the country specific requirements.

3. The system and method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extraction and processing module of the system reads the addresses of the signers or parties available in the first couple of paragraphs of the document to be signed to determine the country or the region of the signers and the module in the system then extracts meta data fields as party’s region/country.

4. The system and method as claimed in claim 1, wherein if the user or sender has already selected a type of signature but after mapping with the database, the system decides another type of signature is required then the extraction and processing module of the system flips the signature type within the system and sends an error message to user/sender for approval and this change in the type of signature is actioned by the user/sender and the user/sender either approves by providing comment or rejects the change with reasons.

5. The system and method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when there are two different regions/ countries mentioned in the first couple of paragraphs of the document to be signed, then the system has an inbuild logical flow to read the jurisdictional clause of the document and within this clause it extracts the region/country mentioned in that jurisdictional clause and suggests the user/signer/sender that region is that particular country and accordingly, the system suggests the applicable type of electronic signature for that country.

6. The system and method as claimed in claim 1, wherein if the electronically signed document based on database mapping requires to be further stamped digitally through certificate service provider, then the system suggests the user/sender the same and once the user accepts the suggestion, the option for digitally stamping the document through certificate service provider is enabled/activated and the documents get digitally stamped within the system.