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HomeResourcesJapanese Patent Translation BulletinNo. 4: Ordering Translation is More Than Issuing a Purchase Order Japanese Patent Translation Bulletin No. 4 (December 26, 2008) Ordering Translation is More Than Issuing a Purchase Order by William Lise Summary:  Translators who are given sufficient context (including the intended usage of a translated document) and reference materials or clues to finding reference materials are more likely to succeed than translators not given these essential elements. Most people consider who their listeners are before they start to speak. And naturally if asked to speak (or even asked whether they could speak) for money, even experienced speakers would want to know the subject matter beforehand. For some reason, however, some clients appear to think that translators are magicians who do not require such information before they set about their professional duties. Nothing could be further from the truth. When a client orders translation services, a number of pieces of information need to be given to the translator along with the source-language text to be translated. This information can generally be provided in two stages. The first is at the inquiry or request-for-quotation stage; the second is before the translation provider actually starts to perform the translation. Naturally, having all this information from the outset is best. Inquiry-stage Information.  Even a skilled patent translator with long years of experience will need more than g6 pages of Japaneseh as a description for a potential assignment. Usually the following is required if a meaningful quotation of price and delivery is to be provided. Field of the translation.  Usually something more specific than gelectronicsh or gmachineryh would be helpful. Volume of text to be translated.  The client might not be able to reasonably judge the volume of text in a Japanese document. Given that, the next item is very helpful. Patent document number.  This is only available in the case of issued patents or laid-open patent applications, but it will enable the translation provider to find the document and learn the actual volume of text. Document to be translated.  Having the document in hand obviates all of the above items. If the source document is not required, the following information would help in preparing a quotation. The desired delivery date. Whether a certified translation will be required. Intended Use of the Translation.  It is helpful for the translator to know to what use the translation of a patent document will be put. The identity of entities involved in prosecutions, oppositions, or litigation in which the translated document is to be used.  This information allows the translation provider to do a conflict check and is particularly important if a certified translation is to be provided. Order-time Information.  When the order is issued, in addition to providing the missing parts of the above-noted information, there is one more item that could be helpful in translating Japanese patent specifications for filing outside of Japan. Identity of the inventors.  Although neither the assignee or inventors appear in the actual specification in for-filing Japanese patent specification translation, these pieces of information are useful to the translator for reasons of which some clients are not aware. Armed with the identity of the inventors, the translator can search for patent documents listing the same inventors. These documents can be very useful in verifying terminology used by the translators of their patents in the past and terminology expected by an examiner. In almost all cases, the information required for the translation process is at the fingertips of the client. Providing it to the translation provider helps both sides of the translation process. The translator is better able to provide a reliable quotation and a high-quality translation, and that inevitably is in the interest of the user of the translation.

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