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HomeResourcesJapanese Patent Translation BulletinNo. 13: Three Core Competencies Required of a Japanese Patent Translator Japanese Patent Translation Bulletin No. 13 (May 3, 2010) Three Core Competencies Required of a Japanese Patent Translator Executive Summary:  For Japanese-to-English translation, read like a native in Japanese; write like and native in English; and know the subject matter. Although purchasers of translation services probably seldom give much thought to the competencies required of the translators that are given their documents to translate, some background on required competencies might help to explain why it is difficult to execute high-quality Japanese-to-English translation of patent documents. The Three Core Competencies Translators charged with the task of translating Japanese patent documents into English need the following three core competencies. Ability to read the source text at a level of competency equal to the assumed reader of the source text. Sufficient subject-matter knowledge. Ability to write the target text with the competency and in the style expected by the assumed reader of the target text. Source Text Comprehension In order to understand just what source text comprehension at the level of the assumed reader, we need to think about the assumed reader. The reader of a Japanese patent specification--and particularly the claims--is certainly not an average Japanese. When a request for examination has been made, the reader will be an examiner of the Japan Patent Office. The since Japanese patent applications are laid-open 18 months after filing, anyone can read the patent specification after that time has elapsed. As a practical matter, however, it is most likely that the reader of a laid-open Japanese patent application will be someone either in the intellectual property department of the inventor's employer or a Japanese patent attorney charged with the task of rendering an opinion regarding infringement risk. In either case, the most likely reader is someone well versed in the style and content of Japanese patent specifications, and the translator needs to be ready to translate patent specifications written with such assumed readers. Subject Matter Knowledge Again, if we consider that the first reader of a Japanese patent document is most likely a Japanese patent attorney or the JPO patent examiner, either of which is reasonably assumed to be highly skilled in reading patent specifications, this puts in place a high hurdle for the translator to jump. Ability to Write the Target Text in the Style and at the Level Expected by the Reader Here again, we need to consider the skills and expectations of the reader. When a Japanese patent specification is translated for filing outside Japan, the first reader is a patent office examiner. Subsequent to publication of the application or later issued patent, the most likely readers include in-house patent counsel or outside patent counsel of competing firms, or a judge hearing a trial regarding infringement or invalidation of the patent. In either case, the most likely reader is highly skilled and expects the correct style of writing. The Take-away for the Translator and Translation User The message the above situation should be sending to the patent translator is that, without the required competencies the translator is not likely to be able to produce work of the required quality, and that acquisition of these skills is not something that can generally be done after a budding patent translator suddenly decides to translate patents because that is where the money is. For the translation user, we have a loud and clear signal that patent translation providers are not black boxes to be fed Japanese patent documents in the hope that a usable English document is produced. The skills of the translators used (something that some translation agencies are not even qualified to judge) are critical in ensuring the required quality. Our next issue will discuss in some detail the difficulty of acquiring the above-noted competencies and several recent phenomena in the translation industry that make it even more difficult for clients to secure the services of translators who have acquired those competencies.

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