Online Acceptance. Stewart Lamle invented "Farook," a board game similar to "Tic Tac Toe." In May 1996, Lamle began negotiating with Mattel, Inc, to license "Farook" for distribution outside the United States. On June 11, 1997, the parties met and

Question

agreed on many terms, including a three-year duration, the geographic scope of the agreement, a schedule for payment, and a royalty percentage. On June 26, Mike Bucher, a Mattel employee, sent Lamle an e-mail titled "Farook Deal" that repeated these terms and added that they "ha

Answer 1

Online acceptance
Under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which most states have adopted, a "record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form." Under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (E-SIGN) Act, no signature may be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form. Thus, under either of these statutes, Bucher's name on the e-mail could be considered a valid signature. Outside these laws, an important consideration in determining whether parties have entered into an enforceable contract is the Statute of Frauds. In Lamle's action against Mattel, the party to be charged is, of course, Mattel, one of whose employees (Bucher) wrote the e-mail. Bucher's name at the end of the note could be given effect as a valid signature under the UETA or the E-SIGN Act, thus satisfying the Statute of Frauds. If the parties had a binding oral agreement, the material terms of which were included in the e-mail, Bucher's signature would bind his employer to it.