In today’s globalized market, the accuracy and quality of your translations can make or break your brand’s reputation. Whether expanding into a new territory or refining your messaging for diverse audiences, precision in document translation is not merely a box to check but a critical component of your market strategy. A flawless translation ensures that your message resonates, maintains the professionalism of your brand, and paves the way for successful international expansion.

We understand the complexities you face as you prepare to enter new markets. That’s why we’ve compiled essential strategies to streamline your translation process and avoid common pitfalls. Implementing these steps will enhance the quality of your translations, reduce costs, and expedite your market entry.

Here are five steps you can take to ensure your translation process runs smoothly.

1. Provide Enough Time

Time is everything, and whether you are tackling document translation, patent translation, medical translation, or website localization, you must give yourself enough time to perfect it. You want to ensure that the translator or translation company has enough time to thoroughly research the subject matter, prepare the translation, and revise and proofread until the final draft is perfect.

Collaboration is key. The more time you have with your translator, the more likely you’ll be on the same page. Effective teamwork and communication are key to localization and translation success.

Tip: If you know that you will need a translation and you want to contact a professional translation company, speak with them as early as possible so that they can build a custom workflow for your project and find the ideal translator.

2. Create a Translation Glossary and Style Guide

A translation glossary and style guide are helpful cheat sheets for linguists to understand your company better. A translation glossary includes the company’s “lingo,” which should stay consistent throughout, and words that should not be translated, such as product names. A style guide describes how a company should be presented visually and textually, as well as the overall style and tone. In short, it identifies those branding elements that must remain, no matter the locale. A translation glossary and style guide for linguists can help ensure consistency. Without this, words and phrases can be translated in multiple ways across different languages, meaning more time is spent revising translations to create consistency. A glossary and style guide can help with consistency reduce the time it takes to complete each document translation, and cut costs.

3. Don’t Use Multiple Linguists

You might think that using many linguists for large projects will speed up the process, but it could have a negative impact on the overall quality and cohesion of the project. Why is that? The more linguists involved, the more prone you’ll be to inconsistencies in the translation. Beyond each linguist’s style and tone, many words have multiple translations that could fit in a given language, and consistency is critical when delivering a message and building a brand. This is especially true if you want to keep with a specific and notable brand image or content style used in the past. The same also applies to your proofreader – give one person enough time instead of forcing the issue with multiple people.

4. Provide All of the Details

The more information you can provide to your translator or translation company, the better. Including more details in the translation also allows the service to choose a translator with expertise in that field more accurately.

When you approach your LSP, you should consider providing your project’s scope, purpose and audience, context and any reference materials, quality expectations, and project timeline.

Providing these details helps the translation provider understand your needs thoroughly and deliver a translation that meets your specific requirements. This comprehensive briefing ensures quality and fosters a more collaborative and efficient translation process.

5. Use Translation Memory Tools

Translation memory tools can store segments, such as sentences, titles, headings, and phrases and create a database for future projects. This helps save time and money for project updates or new content translations. It enforces consistency throughout all project versions and cuts time because the linguists don’t have to spend time re-translating the same thing repeatedly. Morningside works with expert providers, which has helped tremendously reduce client costs.

A high-quality translation is critical to bringing your product or service to a new market, and a poorly executed translation can cost you business. By following the above tips, you can improve the quality of your translation, lower costs, and make your entry into new markets more accessible.

Navigating the intricacies of translation is crucial for any business aspiring to thrive in global markets. As illustrated by our outlined strategies, a meticulous approach to document translation can substantially enhance your brand’s international appeal, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and resonance with diverse audiences. It’s not just about converting words from one language to another; it’s about maintaining the essence and professionalism of your brand in every market you enter.

At Morningside, we specialize in transforming complex translation challenges into streamlined solutions tailored to your needs. Our commitment to quality and innovation helps you overcome linguistic barriers and expedite your market entry—partner with us to safeguard your brand’s integrity across languages and cultures. Contact us today to elevate your translation strategy and expand into new global territories.

About Morningside

Morningside, a Questel Company, equips leading organizations with a full suite of end-to-end language solutions. With over 4,000 clients in 55 countries, Morningside is globally recognized for its subject matter expertise and technology innovation in regulated markets such as legal services, life sciences, corporate compliance, and IP services. Our translation, localization and interpretation expertise equips leading global organizations with the tools to operate seamlessly in foreign markets, overcome regulatory hurdles and connect with audiences worldwide. Global 500 companies, international law firms, and regulatory bodies rely on us as a trusted partner to make intelligent choices for their most valuable assets.

Madeline Sturdivant

Madeline Sturdivant, Brand Marketing Manager at Morningside, a Questel Company, is an accomplished marketing professional with over six years of experience in digital marketing, branding, events, and strategic communications. She leads global marketing strategies, driving brand growth and managing multi-channel campaigns that connect with diverse audiences. Passionate about storytelling, Madeline excels in creating compelling content that resonates with customers and stakeholders. With a proven track record of enhancing brand visibility and fostering engagement, she leverages data-driven insights to craft strategies that exceed business objectives.

Morningside is @ the 2014 RAPS the Regulatory Convergence in Austin, Texas!   If you haven’t worked with us yet and would like to learn more about our medical translation and patent translation services as well as our linguistic validation services for the life science industry, this is an excellent opportunity to connect. Look for us at Booth 328. We have great giveaways and you can enter our raffle to win the new iPad!

Morningside specializes in patent translation services. We translate thousands of patents per year into Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, and numerous other languages. We also translate thousands of patents from German, Japanese, French, and other languages into English.

Patent translation is an exacting discipline, and regardless of what it is being used for, multiple rounds of proofing are needed to ensure an accurate outcome. But depending on whether the patent translation is needed for prior art research or for foreign filing, Morningside selects different patent translators and uses different methodology. For example, patent translations for PCT national stage entry and EP validation are translated in the target country and the QA process is overseen by local patent attorneys practicing in the field of the invention. Formatting and other requirements of the relevant patent office are strictly adhered to. Patents translated into English for research or information purposes are prepared by domestic patent translators and editors with an emphasis on clarity and comprehensibility as well as accuracy.

So the next time you request a patent translation, it’s always helpful to let us know what it will be used for. That information will help us select the most appropriate patent translator and QA workflow for the job.

A new article listing 6 top strategies/tips for managing patent translation and filing costs has just been posted on IP Watchdog. The authors are Gene Quinn, a patent attorney and president of IPWatchdog, and Ethan Perlson, our own director of marketing.

An excerpt:

Given the sluggish economic recovery and continued budget pressure on IP departments, it makes sense to consider new strategies for lowering the steep costs related to international patent filing. Patent Translations can account for up to 50% of the cost of national stage entry, so cost-cutting strategies could make a significant difference in the bottom line. Strategic costs savings can then be used to stretch a diminishing budget, or offer opportunities to expand patent protection into other countries without busting your budget.

Before moving into discussion about ways to cut cost it is important to focus on the end goal. It is one thing to cut costs, but to borrow a popular political phrase – you want to cut with a scapula, not a clever. Thus, keeping in mind the ultimately end goal at every step will allow you to engage cost cutting strategies without compromising your patent project. Of course, the end goal is to obtain the broadest, strongest patent portfolio; obtaining patents in a variety of jurisdictions where meaningful business opportunities exist.

You can read the full article here.

Managing patent translation and filing costs can be simplified when working with experienced-professional language service providers, like ourselves. Morningside has delivered accurate, reliable patent translations for the world’s largest companies and law firms. Our streamlined filing solution helps lower costs and ensures quality. Contact us today to learn more.

More global companies than ever before are seeking to protect their intellectual property rights in China. They rightly view China as one of the world’s largest markets. We at Morningside specialize in patent translation and filing, and over the last five years, we have watched as China has shifted from a country that clients often file in to one they view as absolutely essential for IPR purposes. In 2012, Morningside is slated to translate and file more applications for national stage entry into China than ever before.

Of course the big question mark regarding filing in China continues to be the quality of patent protection and the widescale IP infringement that dissuades many global companies from filing there. This week, there was some encouraging news. China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) said it would increase enforcement to prevent IP infringement.  At a forum that included foreign diplomats and trade representatives, Wu Kai, deputy director of SIPO’s International Cooperation Department, said, “The Chinese government has attached great importance to this issue in recent years and made great achievements in legislation, enforcement, management, and training.”

It’s not clear if this constitutes a real change or just PR. After all, earlier this month China was once again at the top of the United States Trade Representative’s priority watchlist of countries that condone IP infringement.

Still, most experts agree that IP enforcement has improved in China, and patent holders are certainly investing considerable sums of money filing in China: In 2011, the number of applications surpassed 1.63 million, an increase of 33.6 percent over 2010. And filings grew from 63,000 in 2001 to 526,000 in 2011, an annual average increase of 23.6 percent.

Hopefully, China will follow through with improved IP laws and enforcement. If they do, we can expect patent filings in China to continue to increase, and global companies who seek IP protection in China to see significant ROI from this decision.

Disputes involving document translation are not unusual during patent litigation. What is unusual is for the presiding judge to single out these translation disputes in his decision. But in Gemstar- Tvguide International Inc & Others v Virgin Media Ltd & Another [2011] EWCA Civ 302, Lord Justice Robin Jacob did exactly that.

The case hinged on whether several Gemstar patents lacked novelty because a Toshiba patent published a month earlier disclosed the same idea clearly and unmistakeably. Since the Toshiba patent was in Japanese, the translation of the document became a key issue. Lord Justice Jacob notes:

“…I must say a word about the disputes over translation. For there have been several translations. A lot of expense and time was wasted because of this…In principle, whenever a party relies on a document in a foreign language, the translation should be sorted out at an early stage. Ideally the party relying on the translation should send it to the other(s) with an express request for agreement within a reasonable time…If the translation is agreed, well and good. But if not, the Court at the case management stage should normally insist upon agreement or early resolution of the translation dispute, if necessary by a hearing for that purpose.”

Lord Justice Jacob goes on to say that in the end the translation issue was only settled at the trial. The bottom line is that document translation should be carried out at an early stage, so that any disagreements can be worked out during the case management conference, if not before. For critical foreign language documents, it also makes sense for each side to exercise due diligence by having the translation independently reviewed and/or performing a backwards translation and asking the translator to explain any discrepancies. If your translations aren’t in order before the trial begins, you risk provoking the judge’s ire.

How hard is it to agree on a single European patent that grants IP protection across Europe? Very, very hard. For decades, companies doing business in Europe have pushed Eurocrats to replace a system of national patents requiring costly translations into multiple languages with a single European patent. But national interests and pride- in particular, language pride- have stood in the way.

When the London Agreement concluded in 2000, most EU states grudgingly accepted that only patent claims would be translated into each of their native languages. Further progress came last year when Europe signed off on an EU patent that would require patent claims to be translated into English, German, and French only–the most commonly spoken EU languages and the working languages of the European Patent Office (EPO) since 1997. Beyond translating the claims into the other two official languages, patents written in English, German, or French would require no further translation to grant patent protection across the EU. But Spain and Italy–powerful EU states with widely spoken languages–have strongly objected. They say the proposal gives British, German, and French companies an unfair advantage and insists that any European patent include Spanish and Italian as one of the official languages, or else that English only should be the official language. All the EU states, minus Spain and Italy, supported the new EU patent, but the proposal could not move forward without unanimous consent.

Then last week, the Council of the European Union voted to proceed under the enhanced cooperation procedure, which allows EU member states to adopt new rules where unanimous agreement cannot be reached, essentially overruling Spain and Italy’s veto power.

Will this new push finally break the political deadlock? It’s too soon to tell. Spain and Italy have threatened to mount a court challenge, arguing that forcing Spanish and Italian companies to prosecute patents in another language violates their right to defense. In the meantime, companies seeking European patent protection will still need to translate claims or the full spec to obtain protection in most member states and decide if that protection merits the costs associated with translation and validation. Increasingly, American companies are forgoing protection in most of Europe due to the high costs and focusing only on those states where no other translations are required after grant. This group includes France, Great Britain, Germany, and Switzerland but does not include many of Europe’s biggest economies, including Spain and Italy, where the full spec needs to be translated.

As a professional translation company, we spend much of our time focused on foreign languages, especially languages that come up frequently for legal translations and patent translations. But every so often we turn our attention to our native English. We are constantly surprised by how diverse the English language is, and how much of the English vocabulary is derived from foreign words. According to one survey, only one-third of English words come from Old English. 41% come from French and Old Norman, and at least 15% comes from Latin. Another 10% come from a mix of other languages.

There are plenty of English words whose foreign origin is quite obvious. We can guess where chauffeur, angst, and desperado come from (French, German, and Spanish). But many words that sound like “classic” English also have a foreign origin, and the origin is not necessarily European or even Indo-European–you have probably used a few words today that come from languages that many of us have never heard of. Here are a few examples:

• Ketchup – The word comes from Amoy, a Chinese dialect, where it meant the brine of pickled fish.
• Barbecue – The quintessential American cooking tradition, BBQ actually comes from Carib, a language spoken in northern South America and the Caribbean.
• Sugar & Candy – These sweet words come from Sanskrit, the ancient Hindu language of Northern India.
• Husband – The word comes from Old Norse, the extinct language of the Vikings, where it meant “master of the house.” In modern American usage, it often means the exact opposite.
• Pal – The word comes from Romany, the Gypsy language, where it means brother or comrade.
• Tank – As in water tank. The word comes from Gujarati, a language spoken in India.

When choosing a translation service, it is important to find out which translation company can provide you with the quality legal translation or technical translation you require in order to ensure top quality.

Morningside is a translation service which delivers top quality translations since we are a translation company that insists on reviewing each and every single legal translation or technical translation that is delivered to our clients.

Reviewing a technical translation or a legal translation requires not only a cursory review of the completed language translation, but also requires further layers of review.  As a translation company, we strive to ensure the review of the technical translation, legal translation, or patent translation that our client receives includes layers of review.

These layers of review include but are not limited to, review of language, review of specific terminology to ensure consistency, review of dialect, and review of spelling.  While there are other areas of review which we take care of, at the end of the day all of these measures are what makes Morningside your choice for a translation service or translation company.

Whether your needs include a document translation, legal translation, technical translation, patent translation, or document review, Morningside can assist you and provide you with a top quality translation and we ensure that the following time you are seeking a translation service or translation company, you will look to Morningside for their translation and review expertise.

Given the current state of the global economy, few companies can afford not to consider cost-cutting measures regarding their intellectual property procurement and patent translations.

Whether you are the Chief Patent Counsel for a Fortune 500 biotech company, or a patent attorney representing clients with a very limited patent portfolio, evaluating your patent translation costs related to overseas patent prosecution could make a significant difference in your–or your client’s–bottom line.

Chances are you or your outside counsel currently relies on foreign associates to handle both the translation and the national phase filing of the application. Many patent groups have never seriously considered the possibility of “unbundling” these services and using a separate vendor for the patent translation. Certainly there are a number of advantages to the status quo approach. For law firms, reciprocity is important, and providing your foreign associates with more business—including translation business—helps your firm get more business in return. For busy and often under-staffed in-house patent groups, dealing with one foreign patent firm as a “one-stop-shop” for both translating and filing a patent in a given country appears easier and more convenient. For the foreign associates, the status quo is also ideal, since the high fees they charge for translating the patent is an important revenue stream.

But this convenience could be far more expensive than you realize. Given limited patent budgets, cuts that are not made in translation costs could lead to other reductions that are far riskier: the outsourcing of patent drafting work, a reduction in the number of countries you file in, or the use of less accurate machine translations to translate prior arts that are critical in understanding the patentability of an application that is being drafted.

There are several options for companies that want to reduce their patent translation costs related to filing. The most obvious option—one that is becoming far more common—is filing your patent only in countries where the filing language is English. That means filing in the United States, Canada, India, Australia, Israel, and the EPO (though claims need to be translated into French and German), and several other important markets without incurring any translation costs at all. Certainly, this strategy will significantly reduce the overall cost of filing a specific patent. But of course it also means that your or your client’s invention will not be protected in several major world economies and economic blocs: Brazil, China, Japan, Russia, Latin America, and the Gulf States, to name but a few.

Another option to reducing patent translation costs is focusing on regional blocs where one translation will cover multiple countries. For example, translating your patent into Arabic will allow you to file with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. That same Arabic translation (with minor modifications) can also be used to file in Egypt.

Finally, another strategy that is worth considering is turning to a patent translation firm—like Morningside—with proven expertise in translating patent applications. Once the patent translation is completed and returned, you can submit it directly to your foreign associates for filing. Depending on the number of countries where you file, the savings can be very substantial. For example, one of our clients estimated that they would save over $500,000 a year on their filings by using our services for the translation work, and relying on their foreign associates for the filing work only. By saving on translations, they have been able to avoid other cuts in their patent budget and improve their overall bottom line.

We will have more to say about the process of switching from foreign associates for patent translation work in a future posting.

But first a quick note about translation firms. While most American firms employ experienced, certified translators, only a small number of these firms specialize in patent translations. And even fewer utilize native language translators in the target countries with the technical and linguistic background to handle a complex nanotech or biological patent.

But even that is not sufficient. Even the best translators, editors, and project managers probably do not have the necessary legal and technical knowledge to guarantee the most accurate translation possible. It takes a patent lawyer with significant expertise in his country’s patent laws and a grasp of legal nuances related to a patent’s claims. That is why Morningside partners with patent firms in the target countries and relies on native language patent attorneys to oversee the translation process, and carefully edit and proofread the translated application. We believe that it takes a patent lawyer, and most of the patent lawyers that we are pleased to count among our clients believe it does too.

Compromising on patent translation costs should not entail compromising on quality. And one aspect of quality you should absolutely not compromise on is ensuring that your translated applications are carefully reviewed by a patent attorney in the target country before they are filed.