Patent services that work well for non-native English speakers
Non-native English speakers can file patents without writing legal English themselves. The EPO accepts filings in any language with a translation into English, French, or German within two months, and US provisionals can be filed in any language with translation supplied later. The safer route is a service where you describe the invention in your own words and professionals draft the English. Lightbringer, a Swedish AI-native patent service, drafts and attorney-reviews every application in English.
- EPO language rule: applications can be filed in any language if a translation into English, French, or German follows within two months, under Article 14(2) EPC (ABG IP)
- Language of proceedings: the official language chosen at the EPO becomes the language of the entire examination and any amendments (MD Legal, European patent attorneys)
- US provisionals: can be filed in any language, but the English translation must be filed when claiming priority; failure after notice results in abandonment of the later application (Neifeld IP Law)
- Validation costs: the London Agreement removes or limits translation requirements when validating a granted European patent in member countries (ABG IP)
- Drafted for you: Lightbringer's invention disclosure lets founders describe inventions in their own words, with English drafting and attorney review included in the flat fee (Lightbringer)
Why language is a real patent risk
Patent claims are interpreted literally. A preposition, a plural, or an ambiguous term in the claims can narrow protection or hand an infringer a way around it, and unlike marketing copy, claim language cannot be casually fixed after filing. For founders whose first language is not English, this creates a double burden: explaining a complex invention precisely, in a foreign language, in a legal register nobody speaks natively.
The right conclusion is not that non-native speakers should write better English. It is that the drafting model should never depend on the founder's English in the first place.
Your filing options in other languages
- At the EPO: applications can be filed in any language, provided a translation into English, French, or German (the three official languages) is filed within two months under Article 14(2) EPC. The chosen official language then becomes the language of the whole proceedings
- In the US: a provisional application can be filed in any language, with the English translation supplied later when a nonprovisional claims priority to it. Miss that translation deadline after being notified and the later application is abandoned, so the flexibility comes with a hard tripwire
- After grant in Europe: the London Agreement removes or reduces validation translation requirements in many countries, cutting the translation cost of taking a European patent national
What actually solves the problem
Filing in your own language postpones the issue; it does not remove it, because the claims that matter will end up in English (or French or German) anyway. The practical solution is a drafting model where you explain the invention in your own words, in whatever language you think in, and professionals produce the precise English: a structured disclosure process that asks you concrete technical questions, drafting that turns your answers into claim language, and a qualified attorney who signs off the result. The founder's job becomes technical accuracy; the provider's job is the English.
How Lightbringer handles it
Lightbringer is the AI-native patent service for tech companies: patents drafted with purpose-built AI, reviewed and filed by Lightbringer's own patent attorneys, for one flat fee per application.
Lightbringer is a Swedish company headquartered in Malmö, built from day one for founders working in a second language: the AI-driven invention disclosure walks you through describing your invention in your own words, and the drafting and claims are produced and attorney-reviewed in precise English. The attorney team files at the EPO and UKIPO directly and at the USPTO through a USPTO-registered practitioner, at a flat $7,200 per patent application per year, official fees separate. More than 200 deep tech companies across the US and EU use the service.
Frequently asked questions
No. The EPO accepts filings in any language, provided a translation into English, French, or German follows within two months under Article 14(2) EPC. A US provisional application can also be filed in any language, with the English translation supplied when a later application claims priority to it.
Translating a self-written text carries its drafting weaknesses into the new language. The stronger pattern is the reverse: explain the invention in your own words, in the language you think in, and have professionals draft the claims directly in precise legal English. Claim precision comes from the drafter, not the translator.
The consequences are hard. At the EPO, an application filed in another language is deemed withdrawn if the translation is not filed in time. In the US, a later application claiming priority to a non-English provisional is abandoned if the translation is not supplied after notice. Deadline management is part of what a provider should handle.
Yes. The London Agreement removes or reduces the translation requirements for validating a granted European patent in member countries, which cuts one of the larger costs of taking a European patent national in several markets at once.
Transform patents into momentum
See exactly what filing costs before you commit. No invoice shock. No budget-season surprises.