Since granting its first patent in 2002, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Patent Office has been the regional office for securing patent protection in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Kuwait, the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Bahrain (the GCC Member States). 

However, recent changes to the local laws have brought about a seismic shift in the way patents are granted in the GCC and the scope of their protection. 

How did the old system work?  

Before January 2021, you could apply for a unified GCC patent. In other words, if your patent was granted, your invention would be protected in all the GCC Member States. One application for protection in six jurisdictions.  

However, this system was not without its flaws. With the previous process, applicants had the option to file two requests for the same patent, both a national and GCC application, which were then filed and granted separately. However, with this independence there was little co-ordination between the regional patent offices and the GCC. 

Given that the patent’s validity would be open to challenge, the law has now been amended. 

What changes have been made? 

There are two significant changes. First how patents are filed and granted. The second is the scope of the protection afforded by patents granted by the GCC Patent Office. 

The GCC Patent Office now only handles patent applications that have already received prior approval from a national patent office in the GCC.  

The new process is: 

1. File for a patent at a national patent office in one of the GCC Member States 
2. The national patent office reviews the application 
3. If the national patent office approves the application, it could send it to the GCC Patent Office for examination. 
4. However, receiving approval from the GCC Patent Office no longer means that your patent will be effective in all GCC Member States. Now, the granted patent only has effect in the jurisdiction of the national patent office you originally applied to.   

While this may appear less convenient on the face of it, these changes actually tighten up the whole procedure. The GCC now has a stronger patent-granting process, which is more closely aligned with international patent systems.  

What this means for you?

For lawyers, individuals, or companies who want to apply for patents in the GCC, you need to be strategic about your filing decisions. 

The first thing to note is that you can no longer file patent applications directly with the GCC Patent Office. Instead, you file a patent application at one of the GCC Member State offices, and that office, depending on the availability of examiners, requests the GCC Patent Office to conduct the examination.

Secondly, you need to follow a more complicated procedure if you want your patent to be enforceable across all GCC Member States. Rather than relying on sweeping protection from the GCC Patent Office, you will now need to file an international patent application.  

You can do this in one of two ways: 

1. File your patent application in each GCC Member State, through a direct Paris Convention application within the 12-month priority period.  
2. File a national phase application in each of the GCC Member States under the PCT, within the 30-month priority period 

Which route you choose depends on your budget, and the length of time you need.  

The PCT route takes 18 months longer than the Paris Convention route. This might be helpful to you if you need longer to evaluate the commercial viability of your invention. But if you’re ready to press ahead, you may prefer the shorter timeframes involved with the Paris Convention route.  

The other determining factor is costs. Issuing under the PCT will incur high charges in filing fees, so if you have a small budget, and you only want to issue your patent in a handful of countries, then it’s advisable to send your application directly to the Paris Convention.  

How Welocalize can help 

If you have English patent applications that you would like to file in the GCC Patent Office, Welocalize can translate your documents into Arabic. Our translators are fluent in both English and Arabic, but also have the essential knowledge of IP terminology and legal lexicon to provide you with accurate, reliable translations. 

For those clients with an international strategy for your patent portfolio, Welocalize can manage the entire process for you. We provide the highest quality translation services, and we file patents all over the world on our clients’ behalf. 

Have a look at the Patent Translation services we offer, and please do get in touch if you would like any help. 

The post Navigating the GCC Patent Office’s New Working Model appeared first on Park IP Translations.

Welocalize becomes one of the first to successfully implement the new model which certifies cloud-based quality processes and systems instead of locations.

What is the impact on data security, quality processes, and compliance in virtual work environments? How are global organizations approaching quality management in a cloud-based ecosystem?

Now possible, the new ISO virtual-site certification model provides validation that organizations—where the central business functions are not tied to physical locations—are adhering to and executing quality processes virtually.

Welocalize has been ISO 9001 certified for 14 years, and has now achieved our first virtual-site certification for ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, two of our five ISO frameworks due for recertification this year.

“The virtual-site model certifies cloud-based quality processes and systems; not physical buildings and locations as was done in the past. It is an added assurance for our clients that our quality processes, procedures, and systems required for their service request are in place and can be executed effectively no matter where the project team member resides,” comments Silvie Peric, Director of Quality Systems & Strategy, Welocalize. “We take immense pride in being one of the first companies in the language services industry to achieve virtual-site certifications.”

“The certification is important for our clients because they can have confidence that the systems in place are designed to help protect their data in a cloud-based work environment. In addition, this model reduces our audit frequency and cost to once per year, instead of numerous individual audits that were required per physical location until earlier this year,” adds Ms. Peric.

The Path to Virtual-Site Accreditation

Prior to the shift to remote worksites brought on by the pandemic, Welocalize put a priority on migrating from physical location-based IT servers to a virtually enabled and protected work environment. This included implementing Okta Single Sign-On (SSO) functionality to facilitate seamless secure user access to protected data.

“These efforts were rolled out in parallel to our ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification. ISO/IEC 27001 covers the entire scope of information security and provides guidance on a systematic approach to ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive company and customer information. All of these steps helped pave the way to creating processes and procedures for a secure, quality-driven virtual work environment,” adds Aaron Heber, Vice President of Global IT at Welocalize.

Robust Portfolio of Certifications

Welocalize holds five ISO certifications, a quality portfolio found at only 2.14% of LSPs, according to Slator. In addition to ISO 9001, the company has ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (Information Security Management Systems), ISO 17100:2015 (Translation Services), ISO 13485:2016 (Medical Devices), and ISO 18587 (Human Post-Edited Machine Translation Services) certifications.

For more information about Welocalize’s quality certifications or to learn about our experience from anywhere in the world, contact us here.

The post Welocalize Leads the Way with New Virtual-Site ISO Certifications appeared first on Park IP Translations.

Intellectual property (IP) is a valuable intangible asset that gives companies a competitive advantage, serves as a revenue source, and drives future growth. And yet, IP is viewed only in terms of legal rights and is often considered a cost rather than a strategic business asset. 

Organizations should strive to extract value from their IP assets through tangible benefits, such as revenue, cost savings, and licensing. They should also measure the value of their intellectual assets to help in their decision-making. 

Recognizing the Value of Intellectual Property Assets 

IP assets generate direct and indirect economic value for companies. Direct value includes revenue and cost savings directly attributed to intellectual property. Indirect value includes a higher market share or source of future growth, which is harder to measure. 

Direct Value 

There are direct and immediate financial benefits derived from intellectual assets, such as: 

• Revenue from sales and licensing. IP assets can produce direct revenue through their sale or recurring royalties from a licensing contract. 
• Revenue from uncollected royalties. Companies can extract more value by auditing royalty payments from their licensees to ensure they collect the correct amount indicated in their licensing agreements. 
• Cost savings from donations. Businesses can donate unused intellectual assets to research centers and universities, leading to tax benefits. 

Indirect Value 

The value of intellectual property is not only captured in the market’s price for its sale, licensing, or donation. A more long-term, strategic view of the value of IP is its indirect benefits to organizations. 

• Stronger competitive advantage. IP protects organizations from competitors and copycats, increasing revenues and market share. Patents, copyrights, and trademarks allow companies to gain market share, charge a higher premium, and increase brand loyalty. 
• Source of future growth. New inventions, innovations, and acquisitions can provide companies with a pipeline of future products to drive their expansion into new markets or strengthen their market position. 
• Higher return on R&D investments. Companies pour money into research and development to drive innovation. However, there’s a substantial cost to R&D, which companies can justify by commercializing and protecting intellectual assets.   

Understanding ROI From an IP Perspective 

Knowing that IP assets have value, organizations should measure that value. Just tracking the number of patents and other intellectual assets doesn’t provide helpful insight. As with all assets and investments, the most common metric is return on investment (ROI). ROI is simply the benefit (return) of a particular asset relative to its cost (investment). The formula is as follows: 

Another way of looking at it is: 

For example, suppose the benefits or value of IP assets are estimated to be $100 million, and the cost of creating, maintaining, and protecting these assets is $20 million. In that case, the ROI computes as follows: 

• ROI = ($100 million – $20 million) / $20 million 
• ROI = 4 or 400% 

This means every dollar investment in your IP assets returns four times in value. Another way of expressing this is that the ROI of all your IP assets is 400%. 

ROI is easy to calculate and understand and provides a standard way of comparing investments, whether among IP assets or across the other assets or investments of the business.   

From an IP perspective, the two components of ROI are as follows: 

Benefits of IP Assets 

• Direct benefits, such as revenue from the sale, licensing, or donation of IP assets 
• Indirect benefits, including estimated incremental revenue and estimated future revenue. 

Cost of IP Assets 

• Costs of developing IP assets, such as R&D investments 
• Costs of acquiring IP assets from another company 
• Filing fees for the initial application 
• Fees for renewals and maintenance 
• Legal fees for prosecuting IP violators 
• Overhead costs 
• Translation costs of patent filing, prosecution, multilingual litigation, and global e-discovery. 

Organizations can improve the ROI of their intellectual assets by maximizing their commercial use. That could include launching new products, expanding into markets, and licensing or selling IP assets. 

Another way of boosting ROI is cutting down the related costs. By reviewing and managing their IP portfolio, companies can decide to sell, donate, or abandon particular IP assets that are not producing value. That lowers the cost of maintaining trademarks, patents, and copyrights. 

The costs of patent translation and multilingual litigation for global brands operating in multiple territories can be managed better by working with a language service provider (LSP) that specializes in patent filing, prosecution, multilingual litigation, and global e-discovery. 

Applying ROI to IP Decisions 

ROI enables companies to evaluate historical and prospective decisions. Some ways they can use ROI in their IP decisions include: 

• Evaluating how much IP protection is needed for a product or intellectual asset. The benefit of incremental revenue, for example, may not be enough to justify the costs of securing and maintaining patent protection. 
• Determining if IP protection is needed in the first place. Companies can decide if an IP asset is worth protecting by comparing its ROI to other business assets. 
• Assessing where to allocate resources. Companies can apply ROI in deciding if they should file for or maintain IP protection or invest the money in additional R&D or a higher marketing budget. 
• Deciding on maintaining IP protection. Patents and copyrights need to be renewed, and ROI can be used as a basis for deciding to maintain renewal payments. 
• Purchasing, selling, and licensing IP assets. ROI requires companies to estimate the valuation of intellectual assets. This helps determine the price for buying or selling stand-alone IP assets, negotiating licensing contracts, and doing M&A deals. 

Challenges in Calculating ROI of IP Assets 

While ROI is a popular and practical measure of value, determining an exact amount is impossible. What is challenging is estimating the value of the benefits. 

Direct value, such as royalty revenues and sales of IP assets, is straightforward. However, indirect value, such as higher market share and competitive advantage, is harder to measure. 

For example, if a company launches a new product, competitors can later come in and sell something similar, thus reducing that company’s market share and revenue. However, if that same company protects its new product through a patent or copyright, it can maintain or increase both its market share and revenue. 

That incremental revenue derived from IP represents the benefit or return numerator in the ROI formula. The issue, of course, is that this is based on assumptions and estimates. 

Companies value IP assets using three main methods: income, market, and cost method.  

• The income method estimates the value of IP assets based on the amount of economic income expected to be generated, adjusted to its present-day value.  
• The market method compares the price paid for transferring rights to a similar IP asset under similar circumstances.  
• The cost method determines the value of an IP asset by calculating the cost of a similar or the same IP asset. 

Still, despite the inherent limitations of applying ROI on IP assets, it’s better to have an estimated value rather than none at all. It helps companies make strategic decisions and communicate their intellectual assets’ value proposition.  

Work With Park IP 

Global IP requires translations for filing patents in multiple languages. Park IP Translations provides expert language and translation solutions for global IP services and corporate matters, enabling our clients to overcome foreign language barriers in a complex, fast-paced global marketplace. We are part of Welocalize with over 2,100 team members across offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. 

Contact us to learn more. 

The post IP: Shifting from Legal Rights to Strategic Business Assets appeared first on Park IP Translations.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) are the three factors that measure a corporation’s impact and performance on sustainability and social responsibility. They cover everything from sourcing products and managing resources to practicing workplace diversity and protecting shareholder rights. 

ESG initiatives have a direct financial correlation in terms of cost saving, stock performance, and lower cost of capital. They are also a crucial consideration for investors and analysts who prioritize ESG metrics in their investment decisions. 

They also impact a company’s reputation, increasing its appeal to customers, employees, and other stakeholders. On the flip side, failures in ESG expose a firm to activist protests, adverse publicity, and regulatory action. As such, there is a greater need for transparency. 

Challenges and Considerations With ESG 

ESG metrics have become essential in reporting alongside financial statements. Unlike financial reporting, however, ESG reporting is still largely voluntary. Even when it is regulated, it remains unstandardized, making it incomplete, inaccurate, and inconsistent. 

However, new developments are moving closer to mandatory disclosures and harmonization of reporting standards. Global corporations must consider these. 

From Voluntary to Mandatory 

ESG reporting has long been voluntary. Companies would report only what they want to disclose. However, this is changing. In recent years, there has been a move toward regulation and mandatory reporting. This has impacted how corporations collect, verify, and act on ESG data. 

The latest developments include: 

• SEC: The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) now requires climate change disclosure to be increased and standardized in registration statements and periodic reports of SEC-registered companies, including publicly listed corporations. 
• CSDD: The European Commission (EU) has adopted the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD), with a focus on preventing human rights and environmental adverse impacts. The CSDD has a far-reaching scope, requiring global companies doing any business in the EU to implement it. 
• CSRD: The EU adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which requires standardized reporting on environmental and social impact initiatives. The CSRD, which member states must implement, will update and reinforce the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive and will work in tandem with the CSDD. 

From Change to Compliance 

With the rise of ESG, large companies have appointed sustainability officers responsible for creating and implementing sustainable organizational policies that address social and environmental issues. They are also in charge of collecting and reporting ESG data. 

Sustainability officers are viewed as change agents advocating for ESG issues, pushing for ESG initiatives, and communicating ESG performance results. However, with the move toward regulation and mandatory reporting, like SEC reporting of financial performance, ESG is increasingly becoming a compliance and risk management responsibility. 

From Fragmented to Harmonized 

There are an estimated 600 ESG reporting standards globally. A lack of a unified standard makes reporting compliance for global companies confusing and burdensome. For ESG investors, it isn’t easy to compare ESG performance between corporations. Some of these reporting standards and frameworks, each with its own focus and definition of materiality, include: 

• Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) 
• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 
• Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 
• International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) 
• Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) 
• Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) 

However, there is a new direction toward harmonizing and standardizing these overlapping reporting frameworks. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation launched the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which will develop a global baseline of sustainability reporting standards for companies worldwide. Already, it is working on a general requirements prototype and a climate prototype, which will soon be the standard globally. 

Financial information is critical in decision-making. Our latest white paper, Internationalization Strategy behind Financial Documents, explores the opportunities, challenges, and best practices behind the translation and localization of financial documents. 

ESG Compliance in Global Markets 

It will take time for the ISSB to finalize and release a unified sustainability reporting standard. Meanwhile, global companies must comply with the various regulatory requirements and use different reporting standards for their ESG reports. 

A substantial component of ESG compliance worldwide is translating ESG content to various markets where a company operates or seeks capital. Multilingual content solutions can be used to support a corporation’s sustainability initiatives. 

Taking content global, however, comes with its own considerations and challenges: 

• The volume of content. Numerous ESG reports must be accurately translated into the required languages. The number of documents is substantial, including anti-bribery and anti-corruption manuals, climate change policies, corporate governance, human and labor rights management, procurement and contracting policies,  financial and investment reporting, and many more. 
• The number of languages supported. Apart from the massive amount of ESG documents, companies must translate these into the required languages in the territories they operate and comply with specific reporting requirements from each jurisdiction. 

Work With Welocalize 

For global corporations, translating ESG documents into multiple languages is a complex and costly undertaking. A more cost-effective and efficient alternative is to work with a language service provider that has experience in multilingual content solutions, including ESG reports, and can leverage a global network of linguists and subject matter experts (SMEs) familiar with various disclosure regulations and reporting standards. 

Welocalize’s professional translation and localization services support over 525 language combinations. Our network of over 250,000 linguists, reviewers, and SMEs allows us to translate ESG content in volume and at scale. 

Contact us to find out how we can help you with your global ESG reporting requirements. 

The post ESG Multilingual Content Solutions: Supporting Sustainability Initiatives appeared first on Park IP Translations.

One of the most groundbreaking developments for patent applicants in Europe is the introduction of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Before the UPC, national courts decided on the validity and violation of European patents. Inventors and patent proprietors had to enforce their patents for each member state of the European Union (EU). And third parties seeking to revoke a European patent also had no choice but to litigate throughout several jurisdictions simultaneously.

The purpose of the UPC is to address the challenges with engaging in parallel patent litigation in multi-jurisdictional patent disputes and infringements. For instance, dealing with different national courts can result in diverging decisions, resulting in legal uncertainty. This can also lead to forum shopping, where parties would choose to litigate at national courts where they will more likely get a favorable outcome. Therefore, the UPC serves as a one-stop court for enforcement or revocation of patents in Europe, replacing individual enforcement courts in different EU member states.

The UPC Agreement was signed in 2013 by most EU member states, but it faced opposition from other EU countries. The start of the UPC and first grants of the EPO of Unitary Patents is March 1^st, 2023. Prior to this, the sunrise period, where early requests for opt-out may be filed in the UPC and changes may be made towards obtaining a Unitary Patent grant from the EPO, is expected to begin December 1^st, 2022.

Overview of the UPC

The UPC is an international patent court with exclusive jurisdiction to decide on the infringement and validity of Unitary Patents and shared jurisdiction (with the national courts in the participating countries) over European patents. It ends the need for litigation in different countries, enhancing legal certainty and providing simpler, quicker, and more efficient judicial procedures.

It also harmonizes case law relating to the scope and limitations of the rights conferred and the remedies in cases of infringement. Its rulings will apply to all member states that have ratified the UPC Agreement.

The UPC is composed of a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal, and a Registry. The UPC Agreement also provides for a Patent Arbitration and Mediation Center and a Training Center.

Countries Covered by the UPC

The decisions of the UPC, whether to validate or revoke Unitary Patents and European patents, will be enforced simultaneously across all EU member states. Once Germany has ratified, there will be 17 countries participating in the UPC, including:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Sweden

Of the 27 EU member states, three have not signed up for the Unitary Patent package, including Spain and Poland. Croatia acceded to the EU after the UPC Agreement was ratified, and hasn’t signed up, but will eventually do so. The United Kingdom, while an original signatory of the UPC Agreement, will not participate, as it has left the EU. The remaining EU countries have the option to join in at a later date when they decide to ratify the agreement.

The UPC’s jurisdiction automatically covers not only Unitary Patents but also existing European patents. For non-EU member states, such as the U.K. and Switzerland, and non-participating EU states, like Spain and Poland, the UPC will have no jurisdiction over European patents. The UPC will also lose jurisdiction over specific European patents if the patent owner chooses to opt them out of the UPC jurisdiction at any time before litigation commences.

Overview of the Unitary Patent

Aside from setting up the UPC, the EU member states that ratified the UPC Agreement also agreed on creating a single patent with a unitary effect called the Unitary Patent. This single, indivisible right covers all participating member states of the EU, providing borderless patent protection across most of Europe.

There’s no need to file individual patent applications for every EU jurisdiction, just one at the European Patent Office (EPO). The Unitary Patent does away with complex and expensive validation requirements that vary by jurisdiction. For countries that are not participating in the Unitary Patent, the requirement to validate after grant remains.

The option for a Unitary Patent is available to anyone, regardless of the country of origin. The Unitary Patent can coexist with nationally enforceable patents, or “classical” patents, in non-participating states.

Downsides of the Unitary Patent and the UPC

However, there are also risks in filing a unitary patent and litigating through the UPC. One of the main concerns of European patent holders is the risk of central revocation under the new system. A single decision by the UPC can revoke a European patent in all UPC member states. This makes it easy and efficient for third parties or suspected infringers to challenge the validity during the whole lifetime of a patent.

There is also the issue of unpredictability in how the UPC will decide on cases. As a new judicial body, there are no set precedents and no feedback or case law from the UPC. It can be risky to rely on the UPC, as it will still take several years to establish consistency in its positions.

It is also not necessarily more cost-effective to have a unitary patent or to litigate through the UPC. If infringement is limited to a small number of countries, UPC costs could be greater than proceedings before individual national courts.

Opting Out of the UPC

Hence, there is a case to be made for opting out of the UPC. European patent applicants and existing owners of European patents can opt-out of the exclusive jurisdiction of the UPC. This means litigation will still happen in individual national courts. Similarly, parties who want to revoke existing patents can choose litigation in either the UPC or in national courts, except when a patent has been opted out in which case only the national courts will be available.

The opt-out lasts for the life of the European patent. However, the opt-out can be withdrawn. The opt-out procedure will only be available for the first seven years, extendable up to 14 years, on review after five years, from when the UPC comes into force.

Translations Under the UPC

The UPC Agreement also established a language regime applicable for the Unitary Patent. There are many changes regarding the translation of patents within Europe. However, other current translation requirements will not change.

What Will Not Change?

Applications for European patents can be filed in any language, and not only the official languages. However, the three official languages of the EPO are English, French, and German. If the application is not filed in English, German, or French, a translation into one of the official languages of the EPO should be provided.

The EPO will then conduct the proceedings in the language in which the patent was granted. Every document should be translated into the language of proceedings, with the party submitting the documents bearing the translation costs. Just before grant of a European patent, the claims must also be translated into two other official languages other than the language of the proceedings.

Work With Translation Experts

Global IP requires translations for filing patents in multiple languages. Park IP Translations provides expert language and translation solutions for global IP services and corporate matters, enabling our clients to overcome foreign language barriers in a complex, fast-paced global marketplace. We are part of Welocalize with over 2,100 team members across offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Contact us to learn more.

The post Unified Patent Court: Key Insights and FAQs  appeared first on Park IP Translations.

Machine translation is fast and cheap, but a hybrid approach of man and machine is the most effective strategy.

Professional human translators have always been the go-to way of translating documents for legal proceedings. They have the linguistic expertise, a better understanding of cultural context and the ability to make judgment calls on what and how to translate.

However, machine translation (MT) has become a viable alternative for some types of legal content due to faster turnaround and lower cost while retaining a high level of actionability.

For example, cross-border litigation is now widespread as global commerce increases. The COVID-19 pandemic may have dampened global trade in 2020; however, the World Trade Organization forecast a strong growth recovery in 2021 continuing into 2022.

Consequently, as more corporations operate in more countries, the potential of litigation over patent infringements, copyright violations, and product liability rises.

Multilingual E-Discovery

To compound the challenge, corporate attorneys and law firms must now sift through terabytes of electronic data. These are digital documents, emails, databases, spreadsheets, presentations, multimedia files, voicemails, chat transcripts and online content.

Multiply that by the number of languages the data is available in, and it becomes a complex, costly and all-consuming effort.

This is where multilingual e-discovery comes in. Electronic discovery is the process of identifying, collating, organizing and classifying electronically stored information needed for a court case or legal investigation.

The challenge is how best to translate the data and figure out which data needs translation in the first place. What data is relevant to a case?

When it comes to e-discovery, there’s no debate. MT and language identification are crucial in scanning multilingual data, identifying relevant content, and streamlining the document review process in a scalable fashion.

They help legal teams identify which foreign languages are used in documents. Keyword searches allow them to find specific phrases relevant to a case. Combined, they determine the content that needs to be translated by humans.

Machine Translation vs. Human Translation

After the discovery and review process is complete, the decision comes down to how best to translate selected foreign-language content. Three variables need consideration: quality, speed and cost — and there is a trade-off between them.

1. Quality. Human translation offers greater accuracy, especially for legal and technical documents. A team of linguists and legal experts can make better decisions on how best to translate content. On the other hand, artificial intelligence is quickly catching up in understanding context and cultural nuances. Plus, MT can produce more consistent translations, particularly of terminology.
2. Speed. In legal proceedings, deadlines are critical. If fast turnaround time is a priority, then nothing beats MT. It can rapidly translate volumes of data that humans can’t possibly match.
3. Cost. Between human translators and MT, there are significant cost-savings in the latter. MT’s efficiency and speed are unparalleled.

When to Use (Unreviewed) Machine Translation

MT is simply faster and cheaper. Not only can it translate larger volumes of data rapidly, but it can also translate between multiple languages using a single tool.

However, it can introduce mistranslations and will often sound less idiomatic or fluent. If budget and speed are your primary consideration, then MT makes sense. However, it’s not the only reason you should go for MT. These are some situations for choosing MT:

• The content is not crucial in legal proceedings or will be used internally for discovery.
• The translation is only needed for gisting; that is, errors are acceptable if the translation is understandable and actionable.
• The content is straightforward and doesn’t contain cultural nuances or creative expressions.
• The volume of content is huge, and the translation can be basic.

MT can save time and money during the multilingual discovery process and helps identify the content that requires further review, post-editing, and human translation.

When to Use Human Translation

Even with the advances in AI and neural machine translation, linguists are needed to edit and review MT output, depending on the translation purpose and use case.

Here are some situations where opting for a human translation would be best practice:

• The content is a high priority for the legal team, and as such, it demands accuracy.
• The content requires cultural understanding and context.
• The material uses creative language that can’t be literally translated.
• The language to be translated needs specialized human linguists and translators.
• The project is complex and needs collaboration among professional translators.
• Judgment is needed to decide what and how to translate.

Park IP recommends certified human translation for submissions, which achieves the highest accuracy. For additional information or deciding whether the document is suitable for submission, medium-level post-editing of MT suffices.

Combining Machines and Humans

While the situations above warrant human translation, it is not always efficient or cost-effective to rely solely on human translators for large-scale, cross-border litigation. You would need an army of linguists with legal knowledge across multiple languages.

The ideal solution is to use both machine translation and human translation.

The best approach is to leverage the speed and actionability of AI-enabled MT processes, design configurable workflows to streamline automation, and use professional reviewers and translators for blended tasks.

MT can be the first stage in translating huge volumes of data. Incorporating MT in the discovery can determine the documents that require linguists, thus streamlining the process.

For more on HT vs. MT, watch the session “Will Machine Translation Replace Human Translators?” on YouTube.

The post Machine vs. Human Translation: When to Use Which for Legal Translation appeared first on Park IP Translations.

Metaverse is the next big thing in business and technology. According to Bloomberg, the global metaverse market is projected to reach US$800 billion by 2024. What started as immersive, persistent 3D games has expanded to live entertainment, such as virtual concerts and sporting events. Now, prices for virtual land are skyrocketing as companies and individuals place their stake in the metaverse. 

The metaverse operates with its economy using contracts based on the blockchain, payments using cryptocurrencies, and digital assets like virtual products and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These assets represent the intellectual property (IP) of their owners. And like IP in the real world, IP in the metaverse must be protected from theft and counterfeiting to maintain its exclusivity, scarcity, and value. 

Where’s the IP in the Metaverse? 

The United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) has seen a flood of trademark applications to protect virtual goods and services in the metaverse. IP in the metaverse encompasses a wide range of assets, including technologies, standards, trademarks, and virtual goods. 

Technologies 

Some of the IP related to new technologies include optical devices, such as VR goggles, wearable devices, and connectivity and networking technologies. The tech also includes image and video processing and generation technologies. All these technologies are used to create these 3D worlds. 

Standards  

Instead of a single metaverse, the industry expects multiple interoperable metaverses, allowing users to switch from one virtual world to another using the same avatar. These interoperability requirements, protocols, or standards for the metaverse will need to be patented. 

Trademarks 

Brands need to protect their current copyrights and trademarks in the metaverse. These include their logos, brand names, slogans, and trade dress, such as packaging and design. New brands that exist only within the metaverse must do the same. 

Virtual Goods 

Digital items are already more than a $10 billion market in 2021. Companies are already creating branded digital items, such as virtual Gucci bags for Roblox avatars, Nike downloadable virtual goods, and the recreated metaverse version of the O2 arena in Fortnite. 

The #metaverse is a huge hot-topic in tech at the moment! #AI services are the driving force, helping to facilitate #multilingual virtual interactions. Read our blog to learn how the metaverse is influencing multilingual AI –> https://t.co/IKFFAPC65B pic.twitter.com/SV1XcW5QPt

— Welocalize (@welocalize) April 27, 2022

Implications of the Metaverse on Global IP  

It’s one thing to protect IP in the physical world, with established and enforceable IP laws in various jurisdictions worldwide. It is another to do so in the metaverse. These are some challenges presented by the metaverse on global IP: 

• Virtual items are easier to copy. Unlike physical goods, digital goods, such as virtual clothing, digital art, and 3D cards, are far easier and quicker to duplicate and at a far lesser cost. 
• Ownership is harder to verify. Since digital assets are easy to reproduce, it’s hard to identify who owns them. 
• Contracts are limited to each virtual world. Each metaverse platform has its agreement and terms and conditions, which is not enforceable on other platforms. 
• There are no boundaries in the metaverse. Because legal jurisdictions don’t cover virtual worlds, as they don’t exist in a physical location, IP laws are challenging to implement. 

How Can Brands Manage This? 

Pending new global IP laws that apply to the metaverse, brands must look for ways to protect their IP against counterfeiting in virtual worlds. Here are some recommendations. 

Develop a Clear Strategy 

Brands should determine what their strategy is when it comes to the metaverse. Whether they plan to set up business in the metaverse, brands should ensure their IP is protected and monitor violations of their IP in every metaverse platform. They should think about how best to enforce their rights and how they should work with the various metaverse platforms to enforce those rights. 

Establish a Broad Scope  

At this point, companies must deal with individual metaverse platform providers, which may be interested in licensing agreements. Brands should make the scope of the license as broad and flexible as possible, including future uses. Otherwise, their rights over their IP and digital assets may be limited to just one platform and for one particular use. 

Set the Boundaries of Usage 

Even as they broaden the scope of their IP rights, brands should restrict the boundaries of usage. They need to set limitations on how platform providers and their users will use their trademarks or virtual items. Brands should also know how these platforms will deal with infringements. 

Consider NFT Technology  

Given the challenge of working with individual platforms to implement global IP rights, brands should consider using NFT technology to embed and establish ownership and rights over their digital items. This way, the information is accessible to anyone across platforms, even outside the metaverse. 

Take a Holistic Approach  

Brands must take a proactive approach by registering their trademarks for use in virtual worlds. They should register their assets as downloadable virtual goods for virtual environments. Further, they should consider getting a design patent or copyright for their virtual products. 

Like IP in the real word, IP in the metaverse must be protected to maintain its exclusivity and value. In this latest update @ParkIPTrans shares how global brands can manage their IP in the metaverse.
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IP Interactions in the Metaverse With UGC Content  

Virtual worlds leverage user-generated content (UGC) by enabling users to create and sell games, avatar skins, and accessories. Users could use the logo, symbol, and design of brands without permission. This could be seen as free advertising and customer advocacy. On the other hand, this freedom can be abused. So, brands should closely monitor and enforce their IP with UGC.

However, companies risk negative publicity and consumer backlash if they are too restrictive. One alternative is to embed symbols of authenticity into digital goods to discourage counterfeits. Another way is to grant limited permissions for fan art and other UGC, such as allowing users to create work using brand IP but not for commercial use or financial benefit. 

Learn more about UGC laws and regulations so you can remain compliant with user-generated content. 

According to TurnTo Networks, 9 out of 10 consumers report that UGC influences their purchasing decisions. Download Welocalize’s Guide to User-Generated Content for insights into how to leverage content published by your global customers.

Work With Park IP Translations 

Global IP requires translations for filing patents in multiple languages. Park IP Translations provides expert language and translation solutions for global IP services and corporate matters, enabling our clients to overcome foreign language barriers in a complex, fast-paced global marketplace. We are part of Welocalize with over 2,100 team members across offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. 

Contact us to learn more. 

The post Managing Global IP in the Metaverse appeared first on Park IP Translations.

In the spirit of this year’s Earth Day, we wanted to share how our incredible Welocalize colleagues invest in our planet and how they are making lasting changes (big or small) to protect our planet’s future. Every choice and change we make adds up to make a lasting impact!

It’s amazing to see the actions our teams are taking to tackle climate change in their global and local communities. Sharing ideas and inspiration to help and educate each other on what we can do to make a change.

Read how some of our Welocalize team celebrate and invest in our planet and are making positive changes to make a difference.

Litter Picking

Some of our awesome team at Adapt recently joined together to help out in their community in Bath, UK. The team took some time out to litter pick and clean up the local area. Litter picking can help restore natural environments, allowing wildlife to thrive, and makes spaces better for people to enjoy too!

“Some of the team and I from the Bath, UK office spent a couple of hours picking up litter in the city. We filled three black bags with litter we found on the floor, in bushes and all around.” – Jack Sladek, Account Director.

Greener Solutions for Waste

Throwing away pet waste in the trash contributes to landfill overflow and methane production, and waste can leach into the soil and water. It’s great to switch from traditional plastic to compostable bags, but even compostable bags have trouble fully decomposing in traditional landfills. Courtney Ermac, Global Administration & Facilities Manager, has an adorable dog, a pug called Butternut. She wanted to find a greener solution for her waste.

“After some simple internet research, I found Green Pet Composting, a local service in our area! They pick up pet waste each week and take it to their local facility for environmentally sustainable composting. The resulting organic soil can be safely used for other things, like landscaping. This is a small change, but we’re diverting over 273 pounds of waste per year! That’s a lot for a little pug.”

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Recycling is a super easy way of doing your bit for the environment. Anything we can do to reduce waste going to landfill is a positive. Recycling means fewer greenhouse gas emissions (recycled goods have a 30-80% lower carbon footprint) and improved materials circularity.

Jessica Walker, Linguistic Tester, shared “I support our planet by recycling cans. I collect them and drop them off at a recycling center. I do other things as well such as using reusable bags and limiting my electric use outside of work. It’s important to do our best to take care of where we live.”

“I believe that buying recycled, especially domestically produced recycled goods made with post-consumer waste, is one of the easiest and most impactful ways you can positively impact the planet and build towards a more circular economy.” – Raluca Berger, Technology Linguistic Tester.

Grow Your Own

Growing your own fruit, vegetables, and plants can be really beneficial for the environment, reducing air pollution and your carbon footprint by not having produce travel thousands of miles across the world. We have some very keen gardeners in our Welocalize family:

“Our family is always looking for ways to make a better impact on our planet (less packaging, less food waste, less unnecessary consumption) and when my kids started being old enough to understand the lifecycle of plants, we started gardening their favorite vegetables. We’re going strong for the fourth year of broccoli, peas, and tomatoes now.” – Rosalie Henke, Project Manager.

“We have our own little vegetable patch, this way we try to make less use of plastics and pesticides, which are quite bad for the planet. We also enjoy healthier vegetables and fruits, which are really a lot tastier than store-bought ones!” – Lorena Mérida, Project Manager.

“If your space allows grow your own veggies and fruits. No plastic packaging is required when you harvest vegetables straight from your garden, they travel zero miles to get to your plate, and no harsh chemicals are used to rush their growth.” – Rita Bernath, Project Manager.

Supporting Organizations Fighting Climate Change

There are loads of organizations around the world who are working to find solutions to end climate change. Our Director, Analytics Solutions, Kevin Havice is passionate and fighting global warming and regularly supports these organizations to try and have a positive impact:

“I’m a big supporter of 350.org, an organization working to end the use of fossil fuels. For years, I’ve donated to them and participated in their events. I give my vote to leaders whose policies will help us transition off fossil fuels, and I also use fossilfreefunds.org to divest my retirement plan from fossil fuel companies.”

Reducing Plastic Consumption

Plastic packaging is a huge contributor to global warming, with over eight million pieces of plastic making their way into the ocean every day. There are lots of small changes we can make to help reduce this.

“I’ve tried to make lots of small changes to reduce what I throw away and my plastic waste. Some of the changes I’ve made are as simple as using a reusable water bottle and coffee cup, to using refillable toiletries, like deodorant and shampoo bars, and reusable, washable cotton pads.” – Niamh Sheehan, Global Marketing Executive.

For Senior Linguist, Zoe Gibert, her top resolution for 2021 was to consume differently: more local, more healthy, more ethical, and more planet-friendly. “I decided to become a member-owner of my local food cooperative: Demain Supermarché, based in Lyon, France. This grocery store is owned by the people who shop there.”

Upcycling Clothing and Textiles

The fashion industry is one of the most taxing industries on climate change and pollution, making up about 4% of the total greenhouse gases globally. Glory Reichelt, Administrative Assistant, has a small side hustle upcycling slightly flawed clothing and textiles with dye and alterations.

“I try to always reuse and give clothing new life to show others how you can creatively consume less and get plenty of mileage out of the things you already own. I hope it encourages people to stop buying new things they don’t need all the time and slow down their consumption. Plus, it’s really fun!”

Check out this video to see more of the positive changes from our global teams across the world.

Find out more about Earth Day 2022 and how you can invest in our planet here. 

The post How Welocalize Teams Support and Protect Our Planet appeared first on Park IP Translations.

Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) in your marketing campaigns can increase your audience engagement, and in turn, your sales. 

However, the use of UGC is coupled with the risk of legal ramifications such as privacy breaches, trademark violations and copyright infringement.  Therefore, it is crucial to learn UGC laws and regulations to remain compliant. 

Continue reading to learn more about solutions to minimize violations and maintain compliance around UGC laws.  

The Rise in User-Generated Content 

UGC is any content form or media created by online users posted to platforms and websites. 

Common examples include blogs, forum responses, posts, digital images, advertisements, audio and video files, and podcasts. 

Data shows 86% of millennials believe UGC is “usually a good indicator of a brand’s service or quality”, and 84% mentioned that UGC influences what they buy. The data is leading more companies to leverage user-generated content to accommodate a global change in e-commerce consumer habits. 

Also, UGC comes in easy-to-share and consumable multimedia formats such as videos. This helps make UGC highly effective in widening its reach and driving audience engagement and sales. 

Successfully localizing multimedia content and UGC helps your business reach global audiences effectively, increasing your sales opportunities.  

UGC can have a massive impact on your brand. People trust the opinions of consumers like themselves. Download Welocalize’s Guide to User-Generated Content for insights into how to leverage content published by your global customers. 

Legal Complications With UGC 

Using UGC for your company’s marketing and promotional initiatives may have legal repercussions. 

For example, users you allow to submit photos to your website might publish details or images that breach a third party’s intellectual property rights.  

It is imperative to screen the UGC content for your campaigns and put proper measures in place to avoid UGC-related violations. Without proper measures to protect content, anyone can easily replicate, modify, and use someone else’s original work without permission or proper attribution. 

Below are some critical aspects of using UGC you need to be mindful of. 

Personal Privacy and Copyright 

Any user-generated content you collect, use, store, or share, including content shared on social media channels, falls under privacy law. The privacy law prohibits using another user’s content without permission. Violations can lead to fines and/or criminal penalties. 

Another critical aspect of leveraging UGC is copyright infringement. 

By default, creators retain the authorship, ownership, and copyright of UGC, even if the content is created specifically for your brand or mentions your brand’s name. 

If you want to use or publish UGC for your branding and commercial purposes, you need to take proper steps to protect your business and avoid violating a user’s copyrights. This includes writing and designing a privacy policy with localization in mind that can reach and accommodate your global audiences.  

Hate Speech and Harassment   

Protect your brand and users by ensuring the content contributed is free from hate speech and offensive materials. 

Provide clear community guidelines and acceptable use policies to explain permissible and impermissible content on your web pages. Having these documents in place helps prevent others from using your website as a vehicle for harassment, hate speech, stalking, and bullying, and avoid liabilities for your business. Keep in mind, the content uploaded by users will not always be in English. Put measures in place to monitor content in all languages.  

UGC Legal Complication Solutions 

An insightful and careful approach ensures corporate compliance with UGC laws and helps you and your business avoid violations and litigation. 

Below are reliable solutions that will help you avoid UGC legal issues. 

Clear Terms and Conditions  

Provide a clear terms and conditions (T&C) page on your website. Doing so allows you to police all content shared or published on your site, including multilingual content. 

You can include a termination clause to enforce compliance, remove inappropriate content, and ban users who violate. This discourages an environment of abuse, objectionable content, and copyright infringement. 

While terms and conditions are not required, implementing a T&C is critical to maintaining your website and brand’s integrity, including your online community’s quality. 

Ideally, creating terms and conditions specific to each UGC campaign helps cover all changing intricacies and nuances. 

Cover UGC in Your Privacy Policy   

Users might submit personal information, such as their names, email addresses, and social media handles, with UGC. This makes it crucial to create a privacy policy that explains how your business uses, collects, stores, and shares personal information. If you are hosting and targeting a global audience on your platform, ensure proper translation and localization of all policies relative to UGC. 

Also, whether you create content or use UGC, write and design with localization in mind to cater to international users and audiences.  

Simplify Maintaining Compliance UGC Regulations 

Understanding the fundamentals of using user-generated content will help with compliance. 

Global brands trust Welocalize with their multilingual user-generated content and digital marketing initiatives. 

Welocalize has a global team of localization, marketing, and language technology experts who work closely with our clients to develop and implement global content marketing strategies. 

Connect with Welocalize today to learn more. 

The post Remaining Compliant with User-Generated Content appeared first on Park IP Translations.

There are over 543 million Spanish speakers worldwide, making it the 4^th most spoken language globally – just behind English, Chinese Mandarin, and Hindi.

But did you know? Spanish is the official language of 20 different countries and regions and almost 90% of speakers live in Latin America and the United States!

Targeting the correct form of Spanish and utilizing a strong cultural adaptation within these markets is very important.

Here is a collection of interesting language facts about Latin American Spanish:

Accents and Dialects

There are distinct differences in accents and dialects in the different language variants of Spanish. For example, the Colombian accent is less distinct than others and can be used across multiple South American countries without creating difficulties in understanding.

One of the main differences in dialects between Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America is the pronunciation of ‘z’ and ‘c’ (when before ‘e’ and ‘i’), are pronounced as ‘s’ in Latin America and ‘th’ in Spain.

Despite these differences, all Spanish speakers can still understand each other. However, it is said that Chileans speak Spanish so fast it can sometimes be hard to understand!

When translating audio material, accents and dialects are an important consideration when translating across multiple Spanish speaking regions with a large variety of accents to ensure you connect with customers in the local market.

Did you know? #Spanish is the official #language of 20 different countries and regions, with 90% of speakers living in #LatinAmerica and the US! Here is a collection of interesting language facts about Latin American Spanish
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Phonetic Language

Spanish is a phonetic language. This means that pronunciation is consistent, and a word is pronounced how it’s written. This makes it easier to learn that say other non-phonetic languages such as English.

Different ways to refer to the Spanish language

Spanish has two different names. Spanish is sometimes called Español (‘Spanish’) and is largely used in Latin America. But it is also sometimes called castellano (‘Castilian’), primarily by speakers in Spain.

E-commerce Opportunity

Internet penetration has increased massively in Latin America in the last few years, with 72% of the population in South America having internet access and 67% of Central America – a huge increase of over 32% and 53% respectively, in just the last four years.

What’s more, Latin America is offering huge opportunities for e-commerce.

According to eMarketer, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an upsurge of 63% in e-commerce sales in Latin America.

But to ensure your content will be heard in the online marketplace, use of Latin American Spanish and knowledge of the different local cultures is key to success.

Read more: A Global Change in E-Commerce Consumer Habits.

Clinical Trials

There are over 13,000 clinical studies currently registered in Spanish-speaking LATAM countries. The main countries and regions where these studies are taking place are Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Chile and Colombia.

Cost efficiency, access to diverse populations, low weather impact conditions & more are some of the driving factors for #clinicaltrial expansion into Latin America. Learn more about what these key advantages mean to clinical trials: https://t.co/LzuecOZiAY pic.twitter.com/gnu78KvBdC

— Worldwide Clinical (@worldwidetrials) April 15, 2020

Here are some fun facts about Latin America:

Rich Coastline

Costa Rica literally translates to “rich coast.” This country got this name because of the 800 miles of coastline between the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

Not loving it

Bolivians enjoy eating from local vendors on the street, rather than paying for meals from large chains. Because of this lifestyle, Bolivia became the first Latin American country to get rid of McDonald’s.

It’s raining fish!

In Yoro, Honduras, it rains fish! Known as ‘Lluvia de Peces’, this happens during the heaviest rain season between May and June and after the rain, thousands of fish are found flopping around on the ground.

Nature has rights

In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to give nature constitutional rights and can be defended in court. Bolivia has also since done this too.

Simply translating source content into Spanish for all Spanish-speaking nations is not effective. Latin America offers great opportunities to increase global growth, but content needs to be adapted and sometimes recreated to take into consideration all the local nuances, preferences, and language traits and reach customers locally.

Connect with us to find out more about globalization solutions for the Latin American marketplace.

The post Did you know these interesting facts about Latin American Spanish? appeared first on Park IP Translations.