Idiosyncrasies of German patent translation — part 3

Standard German patent terms As with all languages, German follows strict formal conventions with respect to patent terminology. There are many German patent words and phrases that have precise English equivalent terms. Unfortunately, the…

Idiosyncrasies of German patent translation — part 2

German patent texts are typically characterised by long, intricate sentences packed with technical details. The German language’s system of gender and cases in particular makes the meaning of nested clauses a lot easier to follow and less…

Idiosyncrasies of German patent translation — part 1

Why translate German patents? Since Germany is a contracting nation to the PTC and EPC, there is broad scope for getting German patents validated and/or ‘counter-filed’ in other countries as part of an international patent application.…

Key reasons for patent translation

Global patent protection – If a company or inventor wants to file a patent in multiple countries, they often need to translate the patent application into the official languages of those jurisdictions. Many patent offices require filings…

Why are patents translated?

As intellectual property, a patent is only useful in the advancement of technology insofar as the information it contains can be shared. Patent translation is a crucial bridge to making valuable technology and innovation available and hence…

What are patents and why translate them?

Patents are a subset of intellectual property, which includes the likes of trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs and other forms of intangible property (i.e. that created in the mind and having no physical form). Therefore, like all…

Clarity of invention — care with combinations

Through over a decade of translating written opinions of the Searching Authority on patent applications, one of the common objections we see raised by examiners is that of a patent application lacking clarity. A patent application must satisfy…

Why use human translation for patents?

Shortfalls of machine translation The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) still employs human translators for translating patent documents. They undoubtedly have very good reasons to do so, as do we. Although there is definitely…