When Not to Translate: Handling Foreign-Language Content in Vietnamese Patent Translations
When Not to Translate: Handling Foreign‑Language Content in Vietnamese Patent Translations
Not everything in a Vietnamese patent specification must—or should—be translated into Vietnamese. In practice, certain foreign‑language items are best kept in the original to preserve meaning, avoid ambiguity, and reflect how a skilled person would actually see the invention.
1) Terms with no natural Vietnamese equivalent
These are proper names, protocols, or coined technical labels. Forcing a Vietnamese rendering can confuse readers and break alignment with tooling and standards. Keep the original form:
2) English terms widely accepted in Vietnamese practice
Even where a Vietnamese rendering exists, professionals frequently use the English label as the de facto identifier, especially in datasheets, UIs, and code:
router (alongside “bộ định tuyến”)
firmware (sometimes paraphrased but the English term is standard)
Wi‑Fi / Wi‑Fi 6
blockchain (alongside “chuỗi khối”)
sensor hub, bootloader, kernel, driver
3) Screens, photos, code, and other verbatim artifacts
Sometimes the invention relies on content that is inherently in another language: UI screenshots, photos of labels, logs, code snippets, error messages, chat dialogs. Use this principle:
Keep the artifact’s text exactly as is to show the invention truthfully; supply Vietnamese explanation around it if needed.
Why this is important
Faithful disclosure: The figure should depict the real interface/message/label exactly as the user sees it.
Avoid distortion: Redrawing or “translating inside the picture” can alter meaning or introduce ambiguity.
Intelligibility: Focus on legibility of the original strings; add Vietnamese narrative to explain behavior.
How to handle it
In the figure: keep original UI labels, log lines, or code as captured (ensure legibility at publication scale).
In the text: explain in Vietnamese, and quote key strings verbatim in quotation marks.
Example: “As shown in Figure 5, the device displays Pairing failed (code 0x7012) when the handshake timeout elapses.”
For long sequences: excerpt only what supports the claimed features; do not translate identifiers, API names, or error mnemonics.
4) PattransVN editorial policy
First mention format: Vietnamese term + English + acronym — e.g., giao diện người dùng (User Interface: UI) — then use UI thereafter (see the abbreviation guide).
Leave proper names as is: OAuth, WASM, Docker, Kubernetes, Bluetooth, CAPTCHA, CUDA, OpenCL.
Prefer entrenched English labels where they are the practical identifiers (router, firmware, Wi‑Fi, blockchain), especially in code/API contexts and figure callouts.
Figures & screenshots: keep original strings in the image; explain in Vietnamese in the body; ensure legibility and accurate cross‑references.
5) Quick pre‑filing checklist
Proper names/initialisms (OAuth, WASM, CAPTCHA, CUDA…) kept in English.
Entrenched English terms (router, firmware, Wi‑Fi, blockchain) used judiciously; provide a Vietnamese phrase on first mention if helpful.
Quoted messages appear verbatim in quotes; do not translate inside the quote.
All quoted text is legible at publication scale (verify in the exported PDF).
Bottom line: Keep what must remain verbatim to preserve the invention’s essence, and narrate the concept clearly in Vietnamese around it. This balance keeps the document examiner‑friendly and technically faithful.