What are the laws surrounding ink signatures?

Ever had somebody comment on your signature? Or maybe even say it's not valid?

Well, if your signature looks anything like this one (mine does) you might have gotten some 'feedback' about it such as "And that translates to?" or maybe "You're not a doctor are you?".I once even had a past manager refuse my time sheet because he said my signature must be a readable form of my name.

To finally put this to rest, here are the facts:
RCW 9A.04.110 states (sec24): "Signature" includes any memorandum, mark, or sign made with intent to authenticate any instrument or writing, or the subscription of any person thereto

Lectric law library states (sec 47): "It is not necessary that a party should write his name himself, to constitute a signature; his mark is now held sufficient though he was able to write"


The common trend here is that it is also referred to as a "mark". Consider an illiterate person, would they be required to sign a readable words if they cannot read or write? Yes some situations would require (by law) a literate person to bear witness (such as signing documents with those pesky words on it). Really the point here is that this is an acceptable signature:
Xpo-Ferens? What? This "mark" was made by none other than Christopher Columbus himself.