Translating Machinery Patent Abstracts: A Functionalist Perspective

The patent abstract is a summary of the disclosure as contained in the application for patent for invention and enables a reader quickly to ascertain the subject matter covered.In the era of knowledge economy,people are fully aware of the importance of intellectual property protection,so the demand for translation services for patent abstracts has increased dramatically.This practice report is based on the translation project of machinery patent abstracts in Beijing RWS Science & Technology Information Consultancy Co.,Ltd.Under the guidance of functionalist theory,the practice report analyzes the functions and linguistic features of different modules of machinery patent abstracts,sorts out main translation problems of inconformity with convention,inaccuracy of terms and lack of logic,puts forward the rule of accuracy and the rule of lucidity as two macroscopic rules of machinery patent abstract translation,and proposes accordingly specific approaches to different functional modules.It is expected that this practice report will be of guiding significance to the future practice of machinery patent abstract translation.