A billion-dollar Norwegian pharma company faces a tumultuous
legal battle due to a patent invalidation in South America. The reason? Not
a weak patent, but a mistranslated term. Yes, one mistranslated word is
all it took to see a patent being challenged in court.
But why?
Pharmaceutical and biotech companies face several hurdles
when launching a global patent. Perhaps one of the most significant challenges these
companies face is the diversity in languages. From Brazil to Mexico, Tokyo to
Hong Kong, and India to the UAE, languages change a lot. And so, it becomes
necessary for pharma companies to translate their patents into different
languages while complying with local regulations.
Thankfully, with assistance from professional patent
litigation translation services, this difficult task becomes easy.
However, without pharma
translation services, a patent can be affected in many ways:
·
Legal penalties for wrongful patent filing.
·
Derailed drug approvals.
·
Falling behind competitors in innovation.
In this blog, we will explore how to avoid these mishaps by
collaborating with professional patent translation services for pharma
companies.
But before that, we need to understand why pharma and
biotech patents need a different approach for translations.
Complexity of Pharma and Biotech Patents
Pharma and biotech patents differ from a standard patent in
many ways:
·
They involve a much denser scientific language
riddled with medical terms.
·
They strictly need to adhere to country-specific
patent and medical laws.
·
They deal with high-profile innovations such as
cancer therapies, tissue culture, and genetic engineering.
So, when these patents face litigation, every clause, figure,
and footnote must be accurate across borders. This just emphasizes the
necessity of patent translation services.
What Are Patent Translation Services?
Patent
translation or patent litigation translation services refer to the
professional conversion of patent documents from one language to another. These
documents include claims, descriptions, abstracts, and legal correspondence. It
is essential that professional translation ensures both linguistic accuracy and
legal validity across different jurisdictions.
These services also protect the intellectual property rights
of a company internationally. But translating these patents can get
complicated, even for professionals.
What Are Some Challenges in Translating Pharma and Biotech Patents?
Some linguistic challenges faced by patent litigation
translation services are:
·
Scientific Complexity: Professional
translators need a deep knowledge of biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and
engineering.
·
Legal Nuances: Patent claims and filings
must be translated with legal accuracy. One wrong term can transfer patent ownership
or invalidate the claim.
·
Consistency Across Patents: Every term—be
it technical, scientific, or legal—must be translated consistently to avoid conflicting
interpretations of the patent.
·
Cultural Differences: Cultural terms that
are obvious and necessary in one country might be deemed offensive in other
countries.
Patent translation is not just limited to the pharma and
biotech industries; it extends into other vital industries, too. Don’t miss out
on our related blog: Patent
Translations: Say It Right or Lose the Right!
What Are the Legal Risks of Inaccurate Translations?
In 2020, IBSA (Institut Biochimique SA), a Swiss pharma
company, sued Teva Pharmaceuticals of Israel. The reason is infringement of the
patent of a thyroid drug, Tirosint. This dispute of the patent centered around
translation confusion between the terms “half-liquid” and “semi-liquid.”
The court declared the lawsuit was bogus, as the original
term “semi-liquid” was a scientific term. However, the Italian translation used
in the patent translates back to “half-liquid,” which is not a scientifically
recognized term.
So, what went wrong with IBSA’s patent?
While translating a pharma patent into various languages, back
translation is also necessary. By converting translated copies into the
original language, translators and companies can be assured that all translated
terms (scientific, legal, or otherwise) are accurate.
Like in IBSA’s case, other risks of inaccurate translations
include:
·
Loss of patent rights.
·
Delay in drug launch.
·
Significant reduction in revenue.
So, how to ensure complete accuracy in legal translations
of biotech patents?
The Hybrid Approach
A professional patent is a collaboration of law, science,
and language. Similarly, a professional patent translation is a collaboration
of machine translation and human expertise.
A hybrid approach of human and machine translation, also
known as machine translation post-editing (MTPE), includes:
·
Human translators with subject matter expertise
in pharma, biotech, and law.
·
Quick, accurate, and consistent translations.
·
In-depth QA and back translations
to ensure complete accuracy and legal validity.
·
Reduces translation and proofreading costs.
Together, MTPE ensures that every patent litigation
translation is legally sound, scientifically accurate, and region-specific.
How to Get Trusted Patent Litigation Translation?
Finding a reliable patent litigation translation service is
not easy, especially since the validity of a hard-earned patent hinges on it.
A global pharma or biotech company must rely on:
·
A language service provider that provides
medical translation and expert linguists with subject matter knowledge.
·
An agency with the know-how of region-specific
patent laws.
·
A company that uses advanced translation tools
for accuracy, speed, and consistency.
·
A translation agency with multilingual
capabilities.
For the past two decades, Somya Translators has consistently
delivered top-notch legal translations for biotech patents and pharma
patents. Our high focus on consistency, speed, accuracy, and legal validity
helps us offer expert patent translation services for
pharma companies.
In the pharma and biotech industry, where innovation is a strength,
don’t let language be the weakness.
Protect your pharma and biotech patents with professional
multilingual support!
Contact Somya Translators today!
Reach out to us via call (+91-11-43061918) or email (info@somyatrans.com), or check
out our website for more information: https://www.somyatrans.com/.