firmas

In Spanish, firma has two main meanings: a handwritten signature and a business entity or brand. The plural firmas therefore can refer to signatures or to companies and brands.

A signature is a person's mark used to indicate consent or authorship on a document. Handwritten signatures vary by culture, and their legal effect rests on the signer's intent and the ability to link the signatory to the document. Electronic signatures are legally recognized in many jurisdictions and range from simple signatures (scans or clicks) to advanced or qualified signatures backed by a certificate. Frameworks such as EU eIDAS, US ESIGN and UETA, and national laws govern recognition, identity verification, data integrity, and non-repudiation. Security concerns include forgery and tampering; best practices include keeping signing logs, using tamper-evident formats, and relying on trusted certification authorities.

As a noun, firma can also mean a company, business, or brand name, for example una firma de tecnología or la firma X. The plural refers to multiple firms. In corporate language, firma denotes the legal entity or the brand identity of a business, with legal forms varying by country (for example, sociedad anónima, sociedad de responsabilidad limitada). The term is common in professional contexts, as in firma de abogados or firma de consultoría, and it highlights organization, ownership, branding, and commercial activity.