This is horrible news for all the big software companies with huge patent portfolios, because now their IP is going to be worth a lot less. But it's great news for small developers like me, who have to worry about getting sued by some company with deep pockets because they've patented a "buy now" button, or page scrolling in a document, or even hyperlinks.

Here's a choice quote:

To understand translation risk, it must be remembered that there is no such thing as a perfect translation. A word or a phrase in one language rarely corresponds exactly to a single word or phrase in another language. For example, the simple English term "you" can be expressed by numerous different words Japanese, depending on the relationship between the author and the person being addressed2. By choosing one of these possible translations for "you", the translator excludes the others, necessarily making the Japanese translation narrower than the English original.

Patent translation is one of those areas where precision is of paramount importance (unfortunately, opinions on what constitutes "precision" in translation differ, with the opinions of monolingual judges often at odds with those of translators).

This article will be of interest to anyone doing or considering patent translation. I don't do patent translation, but I have in the past and have been considering getting into the field more deeply.