About Cate

Cate specialises in patent translation and works from German and Italian to English.

Education

MA from Jesus College, Oxford in German and French, 1978–1982

MA from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in German, 1983–1985

Specialisations

Patents

patent-folder For 12 years she worked at leading patent attorneys’ firm Marks & Clerk, where she managed their translation service (Eiger Translations Limited). There she honed her specialist field of patent translations. This has given her a broad-ranging knowledge of various engineering sectors.

Trade Marks

flags A niche field that demands a good knowledge of the case law surrounding it. In the late 1990s Cate managed a team of translators providing weekly batches of English translations (from German, French, Spanish and Italian) of the lists of goods and services for new Community trade marks – many hundreds of thousands of words to very tight schedules.

Related Correspondence

Laptop in classic library Opposition letters, submissions to patent courts, patentability reports, articles from the press regarding patent and trade mark matters.

Revision of documents written in English by non-native speakers, such as decisions in patent litigation cases.

Clients

Clients include various patent attorneys’ firms, patent offices in different countries and specialist translation companies. Confidentiality prevents their being named here.

Training Programmes

Cate has always been an enthusiastic supporter of CPD for translators.

  • She has devised and delivered training programmes in patent translation for technical translators.
  • She was one of the creators of ITI’s landmark course in business skills for freelance translators, the Professional Support Group. This online course was the first of its kind and hugely interactive. Cate managed it until 2012.
  • She frequently gives presentations at translator meetings, in particular ITI’s biennial conference. A complete list of her talks is available on request.
  • She was a founder member of The Peer Group, a high-level group of freelance translators working for the European institutions, and was a director of the company until late 2013. You can contact the Directors here: mail@the-peer-group.com

Professional Qualifications

ITI Cate joined the Institute of Translation and Interpreting in 1989, becoming a Qualified Member in 1990. In 2006 she was awarded Fellowship of ITI in recognition of her services to the profession, an honour of which she is extremely proud.

CV

Please contact Cate if you wish to see her full CV.