Translation unchanged?

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PATLIB HELSINKI NPO
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Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:07 am

Translation unchanged?

Post by PATLIB HELSINKI NPO » Wed Oct 23, 2019 2:22 pm

Is it possible that the translation e.g. in Espacenet could change in the future or will it remain stable? If I refer to some publication, should I mention the date when referred to.


Patent Information Marketing
Posts: 358
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 1:16 pm

Re: Translation unchanged?

Post by Patent Information Marketing » Thu Oct 24, 2019 2:39 pm

Dear colleagues,
The response to your questions depends on the nature of the translation. There are different types of translations in Espacenet:
Firstly there are human translations in the original document e.g. in EP patents with translated titles and claims that do not change, since they are part of this publication. Any change in these would trigger a new publication (e.g. correction of the publication).

Secondly there are machine translations:
Patent translate that you invoke with the patent translate drop-down and which opens in a separate tab uses always the latest technology available which implies that the translations are not fixed with a view to constantly improve them.

Other bulk translations that we show directly in the interface have been done at a specific point in time and they may be updated at any time with newer translations. These texts are also used for searching.

In certain circumstances it may help to store translations and maybe also with a date stamp. However, please be aware that:
1. The machine translations are not of a legal nature, but rather meant as tool to help the user understand whether or not the document is relevant (i.e. from the right technical field).
2. We do not have any means to roll back in time to confirm what the translation was at this time, we only can reveal the latest translation.

It would also be advisable to consult an expert in order to determine whether storing the translations and date will be sufficient to support the specific purpose that you want to achieve with that.
Kind regards

Patent Information Marketing


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