Patent ID: 6904524

Claim:
A method comprising: producing a digital signature of a document; associating a visual digital representation of a signature with the digital signature, the signature being a signature of a person associated with the document; associating a digital certificate provided by a certifying authority with the visual digital representation of the signature, to thereby sign the visual digital representation of the signature by the certifying authority; transmitting the document with the digital signature of the document, the visual digital representation of the signature and the digital certificate provided by the certifying authority; before transmitting the document, associating a digital signature of the person with the visual digital representation of the signature and the digital certificate provided by the certifying authority, to thereby sign the visual digital representation of the signature and the digital certificate provided by the certifying authority by the person; and, before transmitting the document, associating a digital signature of the certifying authority with the visual digital representation of the signature, the digital certificate provided by the certifying authority and the digital signature of the person, to thereby sign the visual digital representation of the signature, the digital certificate provided by the certifying authority and the digital signature of the person by the certifying authority, wherein said transmitting transmits the document with the digital signature of the document, the visual digital representation of the signature, the digital certificate provided by the certifying authority, the digital signature of the person and the digital signature of the certifying authority.