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
- Medical device and mechanical engineering patent applicants
- Clients who value scope precision over the lowest available rate
- Filings drafted in non-native English
Not a fit for:
- High-volume agency contract bidding
- Projects requiring specific CAT (computer-assisted translation) tool mandates
- 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
Primary:
- Medical Devices: surgical instruments, catheter and stent technologies, implants, orthopedic and heart valve devices, ablation and ultrasonic surgical devices, medical delivery systems
- Mechanical Engineering: machine tools, material testing systems, measuring and testing equipment, power tools, fasteners and fixation systems
Also handle: Electronics and electrical engineering, semiconductors, telecommunications, software-related technologies, AI-related technologies, optical and lens systems, lighting and emission devices.
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.