The U.S. economy has yet to recover from the Great Recession, and understandably companies and law firms are still extremely cost-sensitive. Morningside always strives to reduce its clients’ translation costs, and knows the importance of offering the most competitive rates possible. But in trying to improve your and your client’s bottom line, one thing you should absolutely not do is compromise on quality. Translations are not a commodity. A bag of rice is more or less the same no matter where you get it. Not so with translations. If the quality of a translation was always the same, then Google Translate would be the ideal service, since its translations are free.

Almost every day, we are told by a company or law firm that another translation service offers much lower fees. Our response: if a translation service can offer far lower rates than its competitors, it is worth inquiring why. For example, for patent translations, Morningside relies on in-country patent attorneys to proofread translated applications. This increases the cost of the translation, but it is a critical quality assurance step. Many of our competitors do not. Our translators are widely recognized as some of the best names in the industry. Some of our larger competitors do not have the luxury of being as selective. If a translation service offers lower rates by skimping on proofreading or relying on sub-par translators, then the money saved could easily be canceled out by costs related to revising or even re-doing the translation.

In short, as you consider options for reducing translation costs, it makes sense to carefully review the workflow and processes of different translation services. Just as no two translations are exactly alike, no two translation services offer the same quality.

In patent applications, every word counts. IP professionals draft applications using precise language and explicit terms to ensure not only that the application will be granted, but also that it will be enforceable. When filing an application overseas, it is equally important that the translated text retain the same precise, unambiguous language. A poorly translated word or phrase can literally cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

If you are concerned about the quality of the translations provided by your foreign associates or translation provider, one way to check for accuracy is to ask a company like Morningside to perform a back translation. What is a back translation? It’s the process of translating a document that has already been translated into a foreign language back into the original language. The two documents are then compared and reviewed for accuracy. To manage costs, you can have a back translation performed only on the claims. It makes sense to have back translations performed on several claim sets to get a broad picture of the translation quality your current vendor is providing. Questions about back translations? Call Morningside and we will be glad to help.