Lecture 8. Translation of patents

 

In its narrow (legal) meaning the patent is a certificate issued to the inventor or his legal successor granting the exclusive right to dispose of the invention. But in the sphere of technical translation patent usually means the description of the invention that serves as a basis of issuing the certificate.

The usual structure of the patent includes: the title (титульная часть), the name (заголовок), the preliminary specification, complete specification, claim (патентная формула) and illustrative section (иллюстративная часть).

The title part is the «head» (шапка) of the document. It contains data necessary for the patent registration: the number of the patent, the name of the country issuing the patent, the application filing date (дата подачи заявки), patent issue date, classification indices (классификационные индексы), the points of the claim (пункты патентной формулы), the name(s) of the patent owner and his (their) addresse(s).

The preliminary specification is usually filed with the application (заявка) and when the patent is issued it is substituted by the complete specification. That is why the preliminary specification is not used translated. Sometimes it is not even included into the patent.

The complete specification presents a detailed description of the invention. If there are drawings, drafts, technical drawings are attached, it explains the numbers of the parts featured in the drafts. Sometimes the data about the inventor or the owner of the patent are given in the first passage of the complete specification.

The claim is the main part of the patent describing the new features of the invention in comparison to its previous analogues. In the English language patents the claim begins with '' I claim'', ''We claim'', What I claim is'', ''What we claim is''. Every passage of the claim is numbered and consists of just one sentence no matter how long it is. It is traditional style of the patent.

The illustrative section is usually of drafts and working drawings. The parts (деталі) on the drawings are marked with numbers (figures) that are explained in the description. The legend (надписи) and dimensions are usually not given.

The language peculiarities of the British and American patents the following ones:

1) a wide use of set phrases;

2) a grate number of synonyms and polysemantic words;

3) the use of syntactic structures in the first person;

4) a wide use of official terms (канцеляризмов) and archaisms;

5) the presence of a large number of words with meaning different from those given dictionaries.

Let's consider these peculiarities in brief. The very first set-phrase the translator of patents run into may have different forms:

An object of the invention is...

It is an object of the invention...

The invention has for an object...

The invention aims at/to...

The invention seeks to...

that are used translated by ''Целью изобретения является...''. The same Russian phrase can be translated by the verbs “to comprehend”, “to comprise”, “to provide”, “to relate”, e.g. The invention comprehends (comprises ….).

Another Russian set phrase “пропонується конструкція” is rendered by

- According to the invention there is provided a construction …

- In accordance with the invention there is provided a construction…

- In the present invention the is provided a construction…

- It is proposed to provided a construction

 

Russian phrase “предлогаемая конструкция” has the following equivalents:

- The construction according to the invention…

- The construction as disclosed by the invention …

- The construction in hand …

- The construction which is the subject of this invention…

- According to the invention, the construction …

- The construction of this system …

Used in the “Complete specification” section are the phrases “it will be appreciated”, “it will be realized”, “it will be recognized”, that have Russian equivalents “ясно, что”, “понятно, что”.