Choose the right language to save on patent application translation costs

As we all know, the PCT international patent application through the Patent Cooperation Treaty allows applicants to choose multiple countries to enter according to their needs. The deadline for submitting an application in any specific country or region is usually 30 months or 31 months from the priority date or the international application date. For example, in China, the latest deadline for PCT applications to enter the Chinese national phase is 32 months from the priority date/international application date. (The deadlines for specific countries and regions can be viewed here: wipo.int/pct/zh/texts/time_limits.html )

At the same time, we also know that in different countries or regions, the official fees and formal document requirements related to applications vary greatly. Take the 28 countries in the European Union as an example. Whether it is a patent application through the Paris Convention or an application entering the national phase of a PCT application, the application fees in each country are different. In terms of document requirements, it is even more different. Some countries require a power of attorney signed by the applicant, some countries do not require it, some countries only require a scanned copy, some countries require the original, and some countries require notarization of the power of attorney; some countries require a statement of ownership or a statement of transfer of priority, while some countries only require the applicant to describe in the letter how the rights were obtained. In short, the requirements of each country are varied, making it very difficult for applicants to handle the national entry procedures in various countries. Usually, the application fee for a country, including translation fees, is usually around RMB 10,000. When an applicant hopes to seek protection in multiple regions, these fees will increase rapidly.

Basically, each country has restrictions and requirements on the language of application submission. Even if some countries allow submission in languages other than the native language, they also require a translation into the native language to be supplemented in a subsequent period of time. For applicants, it is necessary to prepare a translation required by the country, otherwise the rights will not be effective in that country.

The translation of application documents usually involves translation services with sufficient technical experience, because for patent applications, it is necessary to allow the examiner of the country to fully understand the technical solution and understand the precise technical meaning of the claims or specifications. Therefore, for the translation of patent application documents, we strongly recommend the use of translators with technical experience, as any mistranslation of the application documents may greatly change the meaning of the text, which may lead to uncertainty in the scope of rights of the translated patent application.

The translation costs of various languages vary greatly depending on the number of words and the language. For example, English to Chinese is almost the lowest translation cost of all application documents. For some minority languages, the limited number of professional translators and the complexity of minority languages result in higher costs. Therefore, applicants who want to control their costs can make a choice when considering national and regional phase applications before filing a patent application.

Applicants should first consider the word count of the specification when preparing for translation, so as to shorten the length of the specification to reduce the translation amount and reduce costs. For patent applicants who will file applications in multiple countries, they can consider using a single translation in countries with the same application language as much as possible. For example, entering a country with Arabic as the official language, so that the same Arabic translation can be used to share the translation costs between these countries. English, French, Spanish and Arabic are some of the most common languages shared by multiple countries.

Regional organizations offer another way for applicants who wish to obtain protection in multiple countries to save on translation costs or postpone them as much as possible. For example, when filing an application with the European Patent Office, applicants are allowed to file in only one of the languages: English, German or French, and translation into the languages of the countries where the application is to be effective will not be required until at least the European patent application is granted.

The European effective language requirements and document requirements are detailed in the table below: