What is the Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) role in patent translations?
The Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) plays a crucial role in providing human translations for patent examiners when dealing with non-English language prior art. According to MPEP 901.05(d):
“If the examiner believes that a machine translation or translation submitted by an applicant is not accurate, the examiner should obtain a human translation from STIC.”
STIC’s responsibilities include:
- Providing human translations of non-English documents upon request from examiners
- Ensuring accurate translations of particularly relevant prior art
- Supporting examiners in understanding foreign language documents critical to patentability determinations
To learn more: