[Patentcenter] Trouble filling PDF forms on a Mac with Preview - esp. leading slash in an electronic signature

[George Jakobsche]

It seems Preview on a Mac drops the first character entered into a fillable PDF form field, if the first character entered is a slash. This is not apparent in the Preview window. However, closing and re-opening the document reveals that the slash is gone. I tested this with USPTO fillable PDF forms and IRS fillable forms.

This poses a problem when entering an electronic signature (ex., “/Paul Practitioner, #00,0000/”). By experimenting, I found that if the first character is not a slash, for example if the first character is a space, the first slash is not dropped. Similarly, if the first two characters are both slashes, only the first one is dropped. So, the problem occurs only if the first character is a slash.

Thus, to enter an electronic signature, either of the following entered strings would work:

“ /Paul Practitioner, #00,000/”
“//Paul Practitioner, #00,000/”

Does anyone know why Preview drops the first character, if it is a slash?

Best regards,
George
George Jakobsche Patent Counsel PLLC
39 Old Farm Road, Concord, MA 01742-5234
George at JakobscheLaw.com<mailto:George at JakobscheLaw.com> | +1-978-245-8100

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