Evaluating Patent Translation in an Environment of Conflicting Needs

Assessing the Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Evaluating Patent Translation in an Environment of Conflicting Needs

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which serves as the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation. WIPO is responsible for the administration of 26 international treaties including the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which establishes the framework of the international patent system. Under the PCT, WIPO is responsible for the translation of abstracts and patentability reports associated with international applications, and manages 125 million of words of translation a year.

As an international organization, WIPO is uniquely positioned within the field of IP, and this is reflected in our approach to translation. This presentation will explore the nature of the translation performed at WIPO, and how this informs our concept of a ‘good’ translation and our quality standards. Using examples from the field, we will explore how these standards align with and differ from those of patent applicants, and will present some common problems we encounter in the translations we review.