Need for patent information search in original languages and supporting automatic translation : Making the most of “Google Translate” in this field

Abstract

Commercial English patent databases have insufficient coverage of English patent information from Asia and other emerging countries, excepting those from US, EC and PCT databases. In addition, English patent specifications translated from an original language have generally a number of fluctuations of description, mistranslations and misspellings not only in keywords but also the applicant name and other bibliographic items. This paper examines the need to search patent information in the original-language databases from the National Patent Office as well as other English databases. Suggestions are made for the use of free translation tools including “Google Translate” at the time of searching and reading out the original-language databases, allowing for relatively-easy information gathering and reading.