Chapter-by-Chapter Summary of the
Japanese Patent Translation Handbook
The Business of Patent Translation
Rob Sellin, partner, Okada & Sellin Translations
Japanese patent translation can be a profitable business. This chapter covers five areas related to the business of patent translation:
- Knowledge of Japanese and American patent language and conventions
- Becoming subject-qualified
- Working with clients and getting paid for your hard work
- Working efficiently
- Translation certification
The U.S. Patent System
Gerry Gooding, patent translator, registered patent agent
This chapter provides basic information about the U.S. patent system:
- What a patent is
- The patent term (length of protection afforded)
- Types of patents
- How a patent is organized
- What a patent looks like
- What a claimEis
- U.S. and Japanese Patents compared
The Patent System in Japan
James L. Davis, Assoc. Prof. of Technical Japanese at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, licensed professional engineer
This chapter presents basic information on the Japanese patent system:
- Key differences from U.S. patent system
- First to file in Japan versus first to invent in the U.S.
- Japan publishes essentially all applications; the U.S. publishes only awarded patents
- Japanese have a system for opposition to the granting of a patent by members of the public.
- Japanese have utility models in addition to patents
- Utility models
- Process for obtaining a patent
- The kokai document
- The kokoku document
Translating Japanese Patents "For Information"
Jon Johanning, patent translator (chemistry, medicine, pharmaceuticals)
This chapter introduces the basics of patent translation.
- Am I qualified to do technical translations?
- What subject areas should I work in?
- How literally must I translate the source text?
- Practical Problems Encountered During the Work
- Linguistic Problems (complex sentences, style, etc.)
- Terminology
- Misprints and errors in the original
- Illegible or partially missing copy
- Translating the most important part of the patent: the claims
- Basic Rules
Translation of Japanese Patent Applications for Filing in the U.S.
William Lise, patent translator, writer, and lecturer
Translating a Japanese patent specification for the purpose of obtaining a U.S. patent requires some knowledge of U.S. patent practice.
- How far can the translator go?
- Serving different clients
- US patent application requirements
- Converting a Japanese patent specification into U.S. format
- Object of the U.S. patent specification
- Statutory guidelines
- Handling two-character Japanese compounds in patents
- Developing a patent vocabulary
- Style and structure
- Drawings
- Translating claims
- Where to go for more information
Chemical Patent Translation
Tsuneichi Takeshita, Ph.D. , research chemist, holder of patents for several U.S and Japanese inventions, registered patent agent, patent translator, writer, and lecturer
This chapter, the largest in the handbook, was written by an undisputed authority in the field. It provides thorough treatment of the complex area of chemical patents, but also contains a wealth of useful information for any patent translator, regardless of technical specialty.
- Can mistranslation of chemical terms kill you?
- Can a mistranslated term invalidate a patent?
- Translators need to speak four languages: Japanese, English, Chemicalese and Patentese
- How are chemical patents different?
- Markush claims
- Converting a chemical patent specification from Japanese to U.S. Style
- Real world conversion examples between U.S. and Japanese equivalent patents
Translating Biomedical, Pharmaceutical, and Biotechnology Patents
Steve Sherman, M.D., practicing physician, translator
Translating biomedical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology patents requires an understanding of patent laws, and knowledge of the technical content. This chapter provides general information on
- Types of biomedical and pharmaceutical patents
- Duration of medical patents
- Patents for medicines
- Compound patents
- Process patents
- Formulation patents
- New-use patents
- Method patents
- Animal patents
- Plant patents
- Microorganism patents
- Recombinant DNA technology in biotechnology patents
Translating Oppositions and Office Actions
Gerry Gooding, patent translator, registered patent agent
This chapter addresses the translation of documents exchanged between parties during the examination of patent applications (office actions), and documents submitted in opposition process (oppositions).
- The opposition process
- Grounds for opposition
- Opposition format (format of the statement of opposition)
- Official actions
- Notifications of reasons for refusal
- Amendments
- Arguments
- Translating in the language of the law
- Translating quoted portions of other documents
- Sample translations of common standard office actions
Interpreting and Translating for Patent Litigation (in Japanese)
Yasko Karaki, in-house paralegal, translator, and interpreter at a leading U.S. patent law firm
This chapter, written in Japanese, covers the very difficult and specialized area of translating and interpreting work related to legal proceedings that take place when one party sues (or threatens to sue) another over infringement of patent rights.
- Typical patent litigation: a likely scenario
- Types of documents required to be translated
- Special translation issues
- Summary translation
- Full translation
- Confidentiality
- Examples of standard legal terms and phrases
- Glossary of terms
Patent Translation Information Sources
Yoriko Morita, J<>E translator, scientific researcher, and managing editor of the Patent Translation Handbook
This chapter lists a large number of sources of the kind of information that is important to patent translators.
- Patent offices
- Abstracts, bibliographic information, patent full text
- Search engine and technique
- Useful web resources
- Information on patent format and terminology
- Dictionaries
- Books on patents
Japanese-English Glossary of Patent Terminology
John Bukacek, independent patent translator, founding administrator of the Japanese Language Division of the ATA.
This glossary, compiled by a well-known translator of patents on chemistry and biotechnology, was based on an earlier work by Thomas Wilds, a past president of the ATA, who has been translating patents longer than anyone. It provides useful word-for-word translations of a large number of patent terms, many of which are not to be found in patent law dictionaries.
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