Intellectual property translation. Rights enforceable against third parties
A patent claim, a list of goods and services, an assignment of rights: the translation becomes the right itself, and any discrepancy changes the protection. Corrext relies on the terms of the Swiss acts.
Request a demoEach term, in the official text
Highlight an intellectual property term: CHnell shows its German version in the same official text, with its source.
Lorsque le titulaire d’une marque, le preneur de licence qui a qualité pour agir, l’ayant droit à une indication de provenance ou une partie qui a qualité pour intenter une action en vertu de l’art. 56 ont des indices sérieux permettant de soupçonner que l’introduction dans le territoire douanier suisse de produits sur lesquels la marque ou l’indication de provenance a été illicitement apposée ou leur sortie sont imminentes, ils peuvent demander par écrit à l’OFDF de refuser la mainlevée de ces produits.
Hat der Markeninhaber, der klageberechtigte Lizenznehmer, der an einer Herkunftsangabe Berechtigte oder eine nach Artikel 56 klageberechtigte Partei konkrete Anhaltspunkte dafür, dass das Verbringen von widerrechtlich mit einer Marke oder einer Herkunftsangabe versehenen Waren ins schweizerische Zollgebiet oder aus dem schweizerischen Zollgebiet bevorsteht, so kann er oder sie dem BAZG schriftlich beantragen, die Freigabe der Waren zu verweigern.
SR-232.11 MSchG-LPM-LPM-TmPA - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.onLorsqu’un produit cosmétique dans son ensemble ne remplit pas les conditions d’utilisation d’une indication de provenance suisse, l’indication de la provenance suisse de certaines matières du produit peut être utilisée aux conditions suivantes:
Erfüllt ein kosmetisches Mittel als Ganzes die Anforderungen an die Verwendung schweizerischer Herkunftsangaben nicht, so dürfen Angaben zur Schweizer Herkunft für einzelne Materialien verwendet werden, wenn:
SR-232.112.3 Ordonnance-du-23-novembre-2016-sur-lutilisation-des-indications-de-provenance - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.on3. Une indication de provenance ne pourra pas être utilisée au cours d’opérations commerciales pour un produit ou un service si cette indication est fausse ou trompeuse en ce qui concerne son origine géographique, ou si son utilisation est susceptible de provoquer une confusion parmi le public quant à l’origine géographique dudit produit ou service, ou si elle constitue un acte de concurrence déloyale au sens de l’art. 10 de la Convention de Paris.
3. Eine geografische Herkunftsangabe darf im geschäftlichen Verkehr nicht für Waren oder Dienstleistungen verwendet werden, wenn die Angabe bezüglich der geografischen Herkunft falsch oder irreführend ist oder wenn ihre Verwendung geeignet ist, die Öffentlichkeit hinsichtlich der geografischen Herkunft dieser Waren oder Dienstleistungen irrezuführen, oder einen Akt von unlauterem Wettbewerb nach Artikel 10 der Pariser Verbandsübereinkunft darstellt.
SR-0.632.316.411 Accord-de-libre-échange-du-14-juillet-2010-entre-la-République-du-Pérou-e - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.onIntellectual property vocabulary in four languages
Each IP right has its own act, and therefore its own vocabulary. The equivalents above come from the German, French and Italian versions of these acts, at the article shown. The English column uses the translation published by the Confederation on Fedlex where there is one, which has no legal force, and common usage otherwise.
| German | French | Italian | English | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erfindung | invention | invenzione | invention | art. 1 LBI |
| Patent | brevet | brevetto | patent | art. 1 LBI |
| Marke | marque | marchio | trade mark | art. 1 LPM |
| Herkunftsangabe | indication de provenance | indicazione di provenienza | indication of source | art. 47 LPM |
| Urheberrecht | droit d'auteur | diritto d'autore | copyright | art. 1 LDA |
| Werk | œuvre | opera | work | art. 2 LDA |
| Design | design | design | design | art. 1 LDes |
| Geschäftsgeheimnis | secret commercial | segreto commerciale | trade secret | art. 162 CP |
Equivalents taken from official Swiss texts, published in German, French and Italian. In Corrext, each term opens in context in Fast lookup CHnell, with its source.
The acts a filing cites every day
Swiss intellectual property law is spread over four acts, one per type of right, plus the applicable international treaties. All are published in German, French and Italian, which gives a verifiable basis for the equivalents.
PatA
Federal Act on Patents for Inventions
DEPatGFR · ITLBI
It defines a patentable invention, the scope of the claims and the proprietor's rights of action
TmPA
Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source
DEMSchGFR · ITLPM
It governs the filing, protection and use of trade marks, and Swiss indications of source
CopA
Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights
DEURGFR · ITLDA
It protects works and governs their use and collective rights management
DesA
Federal Act on the Protection of Designs
DEDesG
It protects the appearance of products through a filing separate from patents and trade marks
Translating a patent or a trade mark, in practice
In intellectual property, translating means producing a text that itself defines the extent of a right: the claims of a patent, the list of goods of a trade mark, the subject matter of a copyright assignment. The basic concepts are set by the Swiss acts on patents, trade marks, designs and copyright, published in the three official languages.
IP rights and filings
Patent application
The claims and the description must remain consistent with each other. A Full review by a legal translator checks every claim.
Trade mark filing
The list of goods and services determines the protection. An approximate term can narrow or widen the filing without anyone intending it.
Licence agreement
A licence agreement combines contract law and the law of IP rights: it brings together the terms of the Code of Obligations (CO) and those of the IP acts.
Opposition and action
Submissions filed with the authority or the court go through a Full review, or Double review & certified translation when an attestation is required.
What Corrext brings to this area
Technical documents
Technical annexes arrive as PDFs, sometimes scanned. The PDF to Word tab makes them editable before translation.
Sourced terminology
The Patent Law and Intellectual Property domains of the CHnell concordancer give the official usage of a term, with its reference.
International portfolio
English is native, just like German, French and Italian, and the platform covers 30 languages for extensions abroad.
Unpublished invention
Before filing, an invention is a trade secret. Highly sensitive content mode keeps storage and processing in Switzerland only.
Three filings where translation sets the scope of the right
Patents
Claims kept intact
The claim defines the protection, and the description must stay consistent with it. Machine translation helps prepare the text. A Full review by a legal translator settles the version filed, one technical term at a time.
Trade marks
A list of goods and services
The list determines what is protected and what is not. The concordancer shows the official usage of each term in the Intellectual Property domain, so the scope is not broadened unintentionally.
Contracts
An assignment of rights in two languages
The contract combines the vocabulary of the Code of Obligations and that of the Copyright Act. Terms from both are checked in context, and the signed version goes through a Full review or Double review & certified translation.
Frequently asked questions on IP translation
Is a machine translation enough for a filing?
Not for the text you file. Machine translation prepares the work and helps you understand the prior art or an opposition filed by the other side. But a right you will assert against third parties justifies a Full review by a legal translator, or even Double review & certified translation when an attestation is required.
How do I keep the same terminology across a whole portfolio?
Fix the terms you choose in your own terminology resources, which Fast lookup CHnell shows alongside its 30 sourced domains. Then let projects in Standard confidentiality feed a translation memory that only your organisation can reuse.
Can an invention that has not been filed yet be translated safely?
Before publication, an invention is a trade secret, protected in particular by Article 162 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC). Highly sensitive content mode requires storage and processing in Switzerland only, and nothing is reused in a translation memory. This suits a text that is still confidential.
Are scanned technical documents supported?
Yes. The PDF to Word tab converts a scanned PDF into an editable Word document before translation, which is common for prior art documents and for annexes in opposition proceedings. The .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt and .pptx formats are accepted, up to 25 files of 50 MB per upload.
Which languages can I use for an extension abroad?
German, French, Italian and English are native in every pair, and the platform covers 30 languages in total. The Swiss reference, however, remains the German, French or Italian text of the applicable acts, which the concordancer shows with its source.
Can I compare several wordings of a claim?
Yes. The Alternatives panel offers up to four translations of the same passage, each labelled with the engine that produced it. This helps when two wordings are linguistically correct but do not have the same technical scope. The legal expert decides, and the chosen term can be fixed for the whole portfolio.
Other areas
Leases, GTC, loan agreements: the vocabulary of the Code of Obligations.
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See the areaWritten submissions, exhibits, awards: translating what a judge will read.
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