|
PATENT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
TRANSLATIONS |
|
Companies invest millions of dollars each year to
protect their intellectual property (IP). Much of
this investment is in patents, which guarantee companies
the right to exclusive use of technologies and processes
they have developed. Because patents generally have
force in only one country, companies may need to
file their patents in multiple countries and languages
in order to protect their IP investments in the
global marketplace. Patent translation is an especially
demanding task, for a number of reasons:
- Patents use language that is both legal
and technical. Patents are usually written
by patent lawyers who possess a strong technical
background as well as expertise in the legal writing
styles used for IP issues. Translators who are
asked to localize patents for other markets must
have similar extensive technical and legal background
in order to adequately translate them.
- Patent regulations and sections vary
from country to country. Patent translators
are required to do far more than simply translate
the text contained in a patent. They must be aware
of the differences in how patents are structured
in different markets, and must make many adjustments,
both major and minor, to conform to the legal
requirements for patents in the target locale.
For example, in Japan, the Claims section (the
primary section of a patent detailing the particulars
of a design) is located at the beginning of the
patent, followed by a description of existing
technology with examples. In the United States,
on the other hand, the same Claims section is
located at the end of the patent, following the
description. Patent translators must make adjustments
for all of these differences and still deliver
a coherent and structured document that will hold
up under legal scrutiny.
- Patents are extraordinarily sensitive
to quality issues. An inaccurate word
in a product manual might escape notice, but the
incorrect translation of even a single word in
a critical portion of a patent can invalidate
the entire patent. This mistranslation could expose
companies to legal action from competitors or
even allow competitors to take advantage of the
company and steal its patented processes. The
quality expectation associated with patents requires
that companies have very rigorous translation
and review processes, which puts tremendous pressure
(and legal liability) on translators. Some translators
and translation agencies may wish to avoid this
pressure and liability entirely, and they will
thus decline to work on IP-related translation
tasks
- It is difficult to find IP translators.
Translators who wish to enter the IP
translation field must invest a considerable amount
of time to develop sufficient expertise in a field
to translate patents and similar documents. In
most cases the translator must have formal training
in the subject field. For example, a translator
working on a patent dealing with a chemical manufacturing
process would need formal training in both translation
and chemical engineering/manufacturing processes.
Needless to say, such specialists are few in number
and very difficult to find.
For a company to deliver accurate patent translations
in a cost-effective and timely manner, it must make
the investments needed to have access to teams of
qualified patent translators in each language they
are asked to localize into. Without such an extensive
network of qualified translators, IP translations
are likely to fail. If you need translation of IP
and patent material, it makes sense to go with a
company that is established in this field and has
a track record of delivering quality IP translations.
MultiLing has invested extensive resources and
traveled the world to locate qualified translators
and build the needed teams. MultiLing has also worked
hard to develop the quality processes needed to
ensure that translations of patents and other IP
materials will meet specific country legal requirements.
TOP |
|
BBC NEWS: TRANSLATION IS EU'S NEW
BOOM INDUSTRY |
|
With 25 member states and approximately 20
languages, the European Union has significantly
increased the scope of translation within the EU.
Twenty languages gives a total of 190 possible language
combinations (English-German, French-Czech, Finnish-Portuguese,
etc). Before the 2004 addition of 10 new member
states, the European Commission already had 1,300
translators, who processed 1.5 million pages a year
in 11 languages.
This boom in translation hasn't just affected the
official EU institutions. All associated lobbying
companies and consultancies also require documents
in their own languages, and builders have been constructing
new cabins for the interpreters in all the meeting
rooms of the European parliament. Electronics suppliers
are cashing in on the demand for more sophisticated
mixing desks to make sure the correct language gets
channeled to each set of headphones in the enormous
chamber - including those provided for members of
the public.
This union of multiple member states – each
with a rich history, culture, and language –
coming together in the cause of democracy has offered,
and will continue to offer, significant opportunities
in the field of translation.
For more information, please visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3604069.stm.
TOP
|
|
TRANSIT/FORTIS
TIP: FRAMEMAKER
ERROR - WRONG FILE TYPE |
|
Question:
I am selecting the FrameMaker project, but when
I try an import, I receive an error telling me it
is the wrong file type, or the import doesn’t
go through properly. What is wrong?
Answer:
There are a couple of potential scenarios in which
this could happen, but the most likely is that the
incorrect filter has been selected. Many people
confuse the filter with the project definition.
A project definition is actually nothing more than
a default template for a particular file type. A
project definition consists of several parts, including
file type related items such as the actual filter,
tag protection, and segmentation. In this particular
case, chances are the user accidentally changed
the filter. This can be changed by doing the following:
Click the "Import/Export…" button
in the project definition window. The "Import/Export"
window will now open.
In the "Import/Export" window, click the
"Other Options…" button.
In the "Other Options" window, select
the "Filter" tab.
In the filter tab, ensure that you have the correct
filter selected.
TOP
|
|
DTP TIP: DESIGNING USER INTERFACE
ELEMENTS FOR TEXT EXPANSION |
|
Often, localized graphics use fonts that are not
found on most computer systems to represent various
languages. These fonts may display incorrectly when
moved to other computers. If you have text in drawing
applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia
FreeHand, or Corel Draw, one step you can use to
make sure the graphics will display correctly when
sent to partners is to convert the text to outlines
when complete (using the Type > Create Outlines
command in Illustrator). This converts the text
used in the document into a vector graphic representation
of the characters. Text that has been converted
to outlines can no longer be edited as text, but
will display correctly, regardless of the fonts
installed on another computer.
If you convert text to outlines, you will not be
able to edit or make corrections without replacing
the text from scratch – so only take this
step when you know your graphic is finalized. Also,
make sure to work on a copy of the graphic so that
you can always go back to the original without having
to reenter all the text by hand.
TOP
|
|
