Translation For Lawyers

Foreign-language legal document review process and certified legal document translations are integral parts of patent litigation and patent infringement prosecution. We've blogged about partial translations in complex patent cases and about document translation in the context of pre-invention contracts and the right to title. Under the new America Invents Act, patent owners will now be able to request the US Patent and Trademark Office to 'consider, reconsider or correct' information that was previously not considered - or inadequately considered - during a prior prosecution. Further, a court will not be able to hold that a patent is unenforceable based on information stemming from a supplemental examination.

Continue reading "Certified Document Translation Services, Attorney-Client Relationship and the America Invents Act" »

We've blogged about trademark translation services in the context of trademark applicant's bona fide intent to use, as well as legal translation and legal interpreting solutions in view of China's copyright laws.

Continue reading "Global Legal Translation Solutions and the Issue of Invalidated Trademarks" »

We've blogged about intellectual property translation and legal translation and court interpreting services in the context of U.S. International Trade Commission, as well as about patent translation and legal translation services for patent protection . The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that under section 271(b) of the Patent Act, an individual can be held liable for inducing the infringement of a patent (causing another person to directly infringe a patent). However, the statute is unclear about what conduct or intent is required to constitute inducing infringement.

Continue reading " Legal Translators and Legal Interpreters for Attorneys, Knowledge and Patent Infringement" »

We've blogged about professional legal interpreting, legal translation services and multilingual translations in the context of patent infringement actions. Suppose that Company A and Company B compete in manufacturing similar products, and both hold patents that cover specific aspects of this product. Although the aspects are different, they are quite similar and thus lead to patent litigation. Although both companies hold legitimate patents, in the claim and counterclaim both claimed patent infringement.

Continue reading "Legal Language Translation and the Competing Patent Debate" »

We've blogged about legal translation and legal interpreting services in the context of trademark and patent translations from and into various foreign languages. According to US trademark law, the filing of trademark applications protect trademarks which are not yet actually in use in commerce. In essence, the law allows for the filing of a trademark with the benefit of constructive use and priority based on the applicants' bona fide intent to use the mark. The question then is, what constitutes a bona fide intent to use?

Take for example the recent case Honda Motor Co., Ltd. v. Friedrich Winkelmann, 90 USPQ2d 1660 (TTAB 2009), which demonstrates the consequences of failing to show the required intent.

Continue reading "International Language Translation Services and Trademark Applicants' Bona Fide Intent to Use" »

We've blogged about trademark translation, patent and technical language translation services in the context of the doctrine of foreign equivalents. In anticipation to an upcoming video-game, Nintendo filed a trademark registration application for the mark "It's on like Donkey Kong". The reason why this move raised eyebrows in the legal world is that this phrase has become a well-entrenched part of the common lexicon, thus raising the question, will the common use of a phrase have an effect on one's ability to register a mark?

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We've blogged about intellectual property translation, legal online translation and language translations in the context of probative value of foreign language Web site evidence. In the case Elsevier B.V. v. United Healthgroup Inc., S.D.N.Y. Jan. 14 2010, the plaintiff claimed that the provision of the Copyright Act requiring copyrights to be registered prior to infringement violated the Berne Convention and thus were preempted by the US Constitution.

Continue reading "Translation Services and Unregistered Foreign Copyrights in U.S. Courts" »

In a complex patent case, such as one dealing with technology, is a party required to provide a foreign language translation of the entire text or will a foreign language translation of the relevant sections suffice? In one such case, a party opted to submit the entire document in its original Japanese and, according to 37 CFR sect. 1.98(a), (c), provided an accurate, concise foreign language translation of all relevant portions. Furthermore, pointing to the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), one is not required to "discuss differences between the cited information and the claims".

Continue reading "Partial Translations in Complex Patent Cases" »

We've blogged about legal translation and legal interpreting services at FTC hearings, and about intellectual property translation. In today's global economy, many U.S. companies are benefiting from the cost-saving advantages of offshoring some of their operations - particularly, manufacturing. But, as with any cost-saving measure, there is a downside to offshoring. For instance, as companies move operations to foreign jurisdictions, new challenges for protecting the patent rights of the U.S. companies arise. Unlike the U.S.-based patent infringement cases, U.S. courts are often inadequate forums for addressing infringements that allegedly take place in foreign jurisdictions. The main challenges tend to involve obtaining proper jurisdiction and proving the infringement under foreign discovery rules.

Continue reading "Onsite and Offsite Legal Translation, IP Translation and the United States International Trade Commission" »

We've blogged about Chinese-English legal translation and professional English-Chinese translation in the context of protecting one's trademark in China. Intellectual property translations and professional language translation services continue to play an important role in patent litigation in China.  The tide of multimillion infringement case settlements in China has recently been favorable to Chinese firms.  Two of the recently concluded cases instigated by multinational conglomerates against the Chinese for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations have resulted in the awarding of compensatory damages to the accused. There is the probability that these landmark successes would be interpreted as precedents, thus inciting more disputes and lawsuits over IPR/copyright infringement litigations.  This opinion was expressed in an article entitled: Intellectual Property in China: Battle of Ideas (The Economist, 23 April 2009).

Continue reading "Intellectual Property Translation, Legal Online Translation and Language Translations in Chinese Patent Infringement Actions" »

We've blogged about legal translation and professional Chinese-English and English-Chinese translation services in the context of digital piracy and China's antitrust review process.  With many companies turning to the Chinese market as an area of growth, protecting one's trademark becomes an issue. Although China has become a member of the World Trade Organization, it has failed to increase its regulations of intellectual property rights. In fact, in 2007 the US filed a complaint with the WTO regarding China's poor enforcement of copyright and trademark protection.

Continue reading " Legal Translation, Professional Language Translation Services, Your Trademark and China" »

Transnational civil litigation and transnational criminal prosecution create a boon for legal translation industry.  Since most piracy occurs on US copyrighted materials showing in foreign countries - particularly the Russian, Eastern Europe and Chinese markets- that problem generates an ongoing need for professional English-Russian and Russian-English translation services; for professional English-Chinese and Chinese-English translation services; and professional translation services from and into the Slavic and East European languages.  

Continue reading "Russian Legal Translations & Chinese Legal Translations Help Navigate the International Waters of Digital Piracy " »

Earlier we've blogged about the importance of professional document translation services and patent translation services for patent and trademark attorneys.  As a general rule, every article submitted to the Patent Office should contain a full foreign language translation. According to the case Atofina v. Great Lakes Chemical Corp, (Fed. Cir. 2006), the failure to submit a full translation of a prior article reference did not satisfy the intent requirement of inequitable conduct.

Continue reading "Foreign Language Translations, Patent Translations, Patent Translators and Patent Law" »

Earlier we've blogged about the role of professional translation services in the global economy. As China continues to develop as a dominant international business player, it is essential for the international lawyer to understand China's antitrust review process, and the role of English-Chinese and Chinese-English legal translations in this process.

Continue reading "English-Chinese and Chinese-English Legal Document Translations, and China's Antitrust Review Process" »

Earlier we've blogged about document translation in the context of foreign regulatory evidence in products liability cases and about the role of professional translating and interpreting services in enforcing U.S. judgments in Europe. As the business world becomes more and more global, there are increasing instances of conflict of law questions. Essentially, a conflict of law arises whenever a business transaction spans two different countries.

Continue reading "Foreign Language Translation for Attorneys and Law Firms, and International Conflict of Laws" »