English to Japanese Patent Translation Services
Professional English-to-Japanese patent translation.
Translation as the primary deliverable — backed by a reviewer’s eye, terminology consistency, and reliable turnaround.
Best Fit For
I am a strong fit for:
- US and EU IP firms filing patents in Japan
- Mechanical and electrical engineering patent applicants, including medical devices
- Clients who value scope precision over the lowest available rate
- Filings drafted in non-native English
Not a fit for
- Chemistry, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology patents
- Projects requiring specific CAT (computer-assisted translation) tool mandates
- High-volume agency contract bidding
- Language pairs other than English-to-Japanese
- Generic technical translation outside patents
Document Types
- Patent specifications: descriptions, claims, abstracts, drawings text — for both Paris route and PCT national-phase Japan filings (Japan Patent Office, JPO)
- Patent abstracts: standalone, for prior art searches and family research
Technical Fields
Mechanical Engineering
Strongest area: medical devices
- Surgical instruments
- Catheter and stent technologies
- Implants
- Orthopedic and heart valve devices
- Ablation and ultrasonic surgical devices
- Medical delivery systems
- Industrial equipment
- Machine tools
- Material testing systems
- Measuring and testing equipment
- Power tools
- Fasteners and fixation systems
Electrical and Electronics
- Electronics and electrical engineering
- Semiconductors
- Telecommunications
- Software-related technologies
- AI-related technologies
- Optical and lens systems
- Lighting and emission devices
Out of scope
Chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, clinical and diagnostic inventions, and formulations (food, cosmetics, agrochemicals)
Test: the claims are defined by chemical composition, chemical structure, or biological material. A device patent that mentions a material in passing is in scope. If the field is unclear, send the document, and I will confirm before quoting.
Translation toolI work best in my own translation system, where terminology locking and consistency checks run on every project. MateCat can be used optionally, with turnaround quoted per project. Projects that require other CAT tools, such as Trados, are not accepted.
What’s Included
- Technical accuracy checked against the source text: every claim and figure cross-checked
- Terminology consistency, managed by my glossary system
- A translation-notes document I prepare during review, flagging source-text issues — typos, reference-sign mismatches, structurally ambiguous passages I had to interpret
- Format preservation (Word, XLIFF, or other)
- Reference-sign cross-check against drawings — handled by me during human review, not delegated to the automated layer
- 1 revision round at no additional charge
Reviewer-Grade Quality Control (Built into Every Translation)
Every patent I translate is checked against 6 common patent translation failure modes — the quality control layer is built into the translation workflow, not sold as a separate service:
- Terminology consistency
- Omission prevention (reference signs, values, units)
- Numerical accuracy
- Grammatical interpretation of complex source (especially non-native English)
- Cross-checking specs / claims / drawings / abstracts
- Modifier-scope errors and antecedent ambiguities
Non-Native English Source Documents
Much of my work involves patents drafted in non-native English — commonly translated from German, Chinese, or French before reaching me, each with its own recurring pattern of structural irregularity: missing or misused articles, ambiguous antecedents, clause structures that don’t map cleanly onto English.
I read past those irregularities to the underlying technical meaning, then render it in clean Japanese — not a literal pass-through of the source’s grammar.
Turnaround
| Document Size | Standard Delivery |
|---|---|
| Under 5,000 words | 1.5 business days |
| 5,000–12,000 words | 3 business days |
| Over 12,000 words | Custom timeline |
Rush delivery on request. Recent example: a 12,000-word medical device patent delivered May 24 — 13 days before the client’s June 6 deadline.
Pricing
Rate: USD 0.13 per source word, depending on technical complexity and document type. Per-project quotes account for word count, complexity, and timeline — detailed quote within 24 hours.
Pricing and terms adjust for ongoing partnerships.
Payment methods: Wise, PayPal, bank transfer.
More pricing and turnaround questions answered on the FAQ page. Request a quote →
Confidentiality
All documents handled with strict confidentiality. AI-assisted workflow processes data exclusively through AWS Bedrock in Japan, with no data retention or training use by the AI model. NDAs available on request. I sign yours, or use mine.