Posted by Jeff Shieh on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 @ 04:34 PM
Validation costs for granted European applications can easily spiral out of control due to the translations required for many countries at this stage. Translation costs can make up over 75% of the total cost for validation, and as a result, applicants can often only validate in a limited number of Member States.
The London Agreement, which went into effect on May 1, 2008, helps reduce validation costs by easing translation requirements in the signatory countries. However, its benefits only apply to the 15 Member States who are currently participants.
In a bid to further simplify the translation requirements for European patents, European Union Commissioner Michel Barnier recently introduced a proposal that would basically expand the London Agreement to all countries.
Under this proposal, applications would be examined and granted in one of the three official languages (English, French or German). Upon grant, the claims of the patent would need to be translated into the other two official languages. No further translations would be required, except in the case of subsequent legal disputes.
In an example where the applicant wishes to validate in 13 countries, this proposal could potentially reduce overall costs from over €20,000 to about €6,000.
Historically, larger European countries such as Spain and Italy have been unhappy with the idea of their languages being pushed aside in this way. This is a key reason for the London Agreement covering such a limited number of countries. Convincing these countries will therefore be the key to this proposal becoming successful. Whether Commissioner Barnier’s proposal can garner the required unanimous support among non London Agreement Member States remains to be seen.
In the meantime, there other ways to minimize translation costs and maximize European patent protection.
Posted by Elizabeth Golluscio on Mon, May 24, 2010 @ 11:20 AM
As we alluded to in our last blog post, the cost of translation work can be a crippling factor when it comes to seeking patent protection. When looking to outsource your translation work, you should remember that translating your claims is just as important as drafting them and should only be left to experts.
Here at inovia, we are pleased to announce iptranslator — our new patent translation product offering to support foreign filing.
What sets us apart from other translation firms is our “double certification” methodology: (1) each patent application is translated by a native speaker who is skilled in the relevant technical field and then (2) the translation is reviewed and approved by a local patent attorney.
Already used in conjunction with our PCT national phase entry and European validation products, we have been doing expert IP translations for over 8 years and have translated over 20 million words into 41 languages.
Posted by Jeff Shieh on Tue, May 18, 2010 @ 09:52 AM
With IP budgets experiencing significant cutbacks in the last year, many applicants have struggled to maintain the same level of global protection they were able to achieve in “fatter” times. As a result, many applicants must grudgingly reduce the number of countries selected for national stage entry for their PCT applications.
In many countries, translation of the PCT application is a major component of the cost for national stage entry. As such, translation costs certainly play a key role when applicants decide where to seek patent protection.
Aside from outsourcing your translation work, another tip for stretching your IP budget is to file in countries which use the same translation. For example (assuming an English specification), the translation into Spanish required to enter into Mexico can also be used for entry into Colombia and other Spanish-speaking South and Latin American countries.
Similarly, a Chinese translation prepared for use with a Taiwanese filing can often be used as a basis for the translation needed for China (though note that Taiwan is not a PCT country, so the translation would have been prepared earlier for direct filing there, often at the same time the PCT was lodged).
Given that translation costs can run into the thousands of dollars, applicants exercising this strategy can realize significant savings, albeit in narrow country combinations. Especially in today’s economic climate, every little bit counts!
Posted by Jeff Sweetman on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 @ 04:09 PM
While we presently accept externally-prepared translations in principle, we sometimes find that translations we receive from clients are not of high quality.
Additional costs are then incurred in having our agents "fix" the translation. Worse (if it's not bad enough), the client may end up paying the full cost again to have it translated from scratch - not ideal if they've already paid for the first one!
You should be able to say the following about a patent translation:
It is a true and accurate translation of the source document.
The translator is a native speaker of the destination language.
The translator is technically skilled in the relevant technology.
It takes into account any specialist legal language used by patent attorneys in the destination country, including idiomatic translation of special technical or legal words used in the source document.
It satisfies local formal requirements relating to character set, font size, spacing, margins and so on.
In our experience, translations prepared by anyone other than a specialist patent translator run the risk of significant deficiencies in some or all of the above areas.
For example, it is rare that even a person very skilled in the relevant technical field who writes well in the destination language and has a good understanding of the source language will have any knowledge of the legal language issues, or of the formalities.
The service level agreements we have with our agents require them to satisfy all the above criteria. We also require that the translation either be prepared by a patent attorney or comprehensively reviewed by a patent attorney prior to filing.
In virtually all countries, it is the translation that forms the basis for your rights. Any weakness or deficiency in the translation is a weakness or deficiency in the resultant protection - and worse, it's one you won't know about until it's too late.
If you have thoughts about translations (and particularly the importance of quality), we'd love to hear them.