At Congrestolken, we regularly provide conference interpreting during pharmaceutical patent litigation. These proceedings are highly challenging yet fascinating, combining complex scientific terminology with detailed legal arguments in cases where precision is essential.
One term that regularly occurs in these proceedings is the skilled formulator. Interestingly, it also provides a fitting image of what conference interpreters do.
What is a skilled formulator?
In pharmaceutical patent litigation, a skilled formulator is an expert who knows how to turn an active ingredient into a usable drug.
The active ingredient alone is not the finished product. It has to be combined with the right components, in the correct quantities and under carefully controlled conditions. Every element contributes to the final formulation and the effect it produces.
Conference interpreters as skilled formulators
The term skilled formulator is also a wonderful metaphor for the work of conference interpreters.
We do not simply translate individual words. We convey meaning.
Nor do we mix loose words together in one language or another. We listen to the complete message and convey the meaning and intention of the speaker as accurately as possible.
This requires an understanding of the subject matter, terminology, context and purpose of what is being said.
Conveying meaning, intention and effect
Speakers usually pursue a goal. They may want to convince, ask, encourage, impress, inform, confuse or even threaten.
In other words, they are trying to provoke a reaction.
Like a chemical formulation, the words chosen by an interpreter should set off a reaction in the listener. Not just any reaction, but the one intended by the original speaker.
This is particularly important when interpreting in pharmaceutical patent litigation, where a subtle difference in terminology or emphasis can influence how a complex scientific or legal argument is understood.
The chemistry of conference interpreting
High-quality conference interpreting therefore involves far more than replacing words in one language with words in another.
The interpreter must recognise the individual elements of a message, understand how they work together and reformulate them carefully in another language—without changing their intended meaning or effect.
It may sound like chemistry, but that is our profession:
Skilled formulators.
This story is part of 50 Stories in 50 Weeks, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Congrestolken.
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