How the standard differs
Most translators (and LLMs) focus on producing translations that read well. To meet this goal, they often change the words and phrasings that were used in the original document. Evidentiary translations, however, must exactly and accurately reproduce everything set forth in the source text without embellishment or modification.
The methodology
The job of an evidentiary translator is similar to that of a court interpreter. In this case, the document is the witness, and the translator must thoroughly and precisely reproduce what the document says, without seeking to improve or simplify it. In the specific field of patent translation, the accepted methodology for this task is set out in the chapter on Literal Translation of Patents, in The Patent Translator's Handbook, published by the American Translators Association. The chapter was written by Martin Cross.
Our evidentiary translations are accompanied by a signed certification or declaration, and expert witness testimony is also available.
AI Strengthening
Our certified translations are translated by Martin Cross and reviewed by a second translator, who is a native speaker of Japanese. We also employ PatentCAT, a proprietary tool developed by Patent Translations Inc., which calls a secure AI model to enforce consistent translation of identical terms and phrases, and to probe the text for alternate interpretations and potential points of contention. The result is an ironclad translation. On request, calls to AI can be made using an on-site LLM, so that your data never leaves our office.