Patent Attorney and Founder
Are translation services available for manufacturing patents or proprietary designs?
Probably, but let’s unpack what that even means.
If you’re talking about translating foreign patents into English, yeah, that happens. Say there’s a German or Chinese patent that might be similar to something you’re working on. It would need to be translated so a U.S. examiner can understand it when checking if your idea is truly new.
Now, how do patent examiners search for prior art in other countries?
Good question. U.S. examiners are supposed to look worldwide, not just in the U.S., to see if your invention is new. So they do rely on translated documents, whether that’s done by software or actual human translators.
I mean, imagine being an examiner who only speaks English trying to read a complex patent written in Japanese or Chinese. That’s not easy. So yeah, translations play a big role.
And what if there’s a patent filed only in China, written in Chinese? Do you have to worry about infringing that?
Not if you’re only doing business in the U.S.
Why? Because patents are territorial. A Chinese patent only protects the invention in China. If that company wanted protection here, they’d have to file in the U.S., and yes, in English. That way, it shows up in U.S. patent searches, and you can see it before accidentally stepping on it.
So, bottom line:
- Foreign patents are translated usually for novelty checks and prior art searches.
- U.S. examiners look globally, not just domestically.
- If you’re only selling in the U.S., focus on U.S. patents.
- Foreign rights only matter here if they’ve been filed and approved here.
Hope that clears things up. And I’ll dig deeper into how translations are handled internally and share more next week. Great question.